My Tropical Crochet Christmas Wreath made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

This Christmas I have gone a bit mad on recycling (and crocheting).

My tropical crochet Christmas wreath made from single use plastic bottles

First I made dozens of crochet snowflake decorations using old plastic bags…

Then I crocheted some hot-plate table mats for the Christmas table from some of my old clothes…

: Crochet table mat made from old clothes ripped into continuous strips of fabric

: Crochet table mat made from old clothes ripped into continuous strips of fabric

And finally I crocheted a tropical Christmas wreath using single use plastic bottles and oddments of wool…

: How to make a wreath from single use plastic bottles – Wash and dry the single use plastic bottles

: How to make a wreath from single use plastic bottles – Using a sharp knife cut the plastic bottles into pieces and use parcel to attach the pieces together

: How to make a wreath from single use plastic bottles – Using parcel tape attach the cut up pieces of plastic bottles together

: How to make a wreath from single use plastic bottles – Once your plastic bottle wreath is finished you can start doing your crocheting

Wash the plastic bottles and allow them to dry. I used about 8 x 500 ml and 300 ml bottles for my wreath, which measures approximately 14 inches or 36 centimetres in diameter.
Using a sharp knife, cut the bottles into pieces so you can put them together to form a circle. I found that cutting them into pieces measuring about 10 cm or 15 cm worked best to make the smooth arc of the circle.
Next using tape, parcel tape works best, but you could also use duct tape or masking tape, to attach the cut bottles together, so they form a circle.
Now your wreath ring base is done, you need to add the crochet covering. I used oddments of wool, a 4 mm crochet hook and double crochet stitch to make one long stripey crochet piece, which looked like a scarf and measured approximately 11 inches by 42 inches (28 cm by 108 cm).
Sew this crochet piece in place covering the plastic wreath shape and then decorate. Be careful not to pull the crochet too tightly when you are sewing, otherwise you will be able to see the plastic and tape underneath.
For my Christmas wreath I added flowers and snowflakes and will add some leaves at a later date, but ran out of time this year! Because I live in Kenya I wanted to use tropical colours to make my crochet wreath, but you could use more traditional greens and reds, or even blues and whites to make it seasonal in colour.

Let’s all try to reduce, reuse and recycle a little more in 2018.

PicCollage (1)

Crowds gathering to see the entertainers in Jemaa El Fna, Marrakesh