I went to the Indie Craft Fair at The Space in Hamden on Sunday, and I dropped $10 on two bowls made from vinyl records. They look pretty groovy. Pun intended. But five bucks for a bowl made of a record that nobody wants? I can do better than that for less than that. I challenged it to a duel. And it ended up becoming a four corners match, pitting me against the task of making vinyl records into bowls, Christmas presents on a low budget, and Neil Diamond.

So two nights ago, I did some research and learned it isn't hard, expensive or time-consuming to turn a few vinyl records into a few awesome looking bowls to give away as gifts to friends and family.

I lost to Neil Diamond's chest hair. But WIN: I made a pretty cool bowl out of a vinyl record. And, in record time no less.



Learn how you can make your own nifty bowl out of a vinyl record after the jump. All you need is an oven, a record, an oven-resistant bowl, and about 10 minutes of your time. Hot pads too, I suppose.


HOW I DID IT:

1. Select the album you want to destroy turn into a bowl. In this case, Neil Diamond's 'Primitive'.
2. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. No higher.
3. Place an oven-resistant bowl lip down on a pan. The bowl should be about a foot in diameter, or so. I used a glass bowl on a cookie sheet.
4. Center the record on top of the upside down bowl. The side of the record that faces down will become the inside of the bowl.
5. Insert into oven carefully. Not rambunctiously. Wait for about 2 minutes.
6. DO NOT WALK AWAY OR LET IT IN LONGER THAN 2 MINUTES. (Unless you want to poison your gift-receivers that is. Which I don't, for the record.) The vinyl can release toxic fumes should you let it melt too long. You only want to soften it. Leave the melting to the metal heads.
7. Record should be drooping around the upside bowl in oven by now, take it out with hotpads.
8. Wearing rubber gloves (I didn't), place the softened vinyl into a right side up bowl to give it its final shaping. Work quickly, you only have about a minute before the record hardens again and takes its new shape.
9. If you need to reshape it or tweek it some more, you can put back into oven - but be careful not to overdo it. Toxic fumes!
10. FOR THE RECORD: The internets advises to not eat out of these bowls. Wrapped candies, fruits, potpourri, or (muhahaha) mp3 players are all deemed safe. So keep that in mind.