10 Easy Steps to Creating a Record/Vinyl Album Bowl
1. Before beginning, it’s important to find several old records. The first few times that you try to melt the record into a bowl shape, you might find that you don’t like the look. If you plan on using popular recording artists, you might want to start with something else until you get the hang of things.
2. Now its time to gather the rest of your materials, beyond the record itself.
-2 oven safe bowls
-pot holders
-a brick, or something else heavy that will fit inside your bowls
-cookie sheet
3. The point of this project is to melt the record, and that requires the correct temperature. Too hot and your record will melt all over, but if the oven is too low it will take far too long to melt the record. The best temperature is between 150-175 Fahrenheit.
4. Lay out your smaller bowl onto the cookie sheet upside down, then place your record directly on top of it. As soon as the oven reaches the temperature, place everything inside the oven.
5. The most important step is to keep your eyes on this project every time it is in the oven. If you wait too long to remove it from the oven, the record will melt all over the cookie sheet, and the project will be ruined. You’re looking for the record to just begin softening, and after a few minutes it should begin molding onto the bowl.
6. Once the record begins melting, remove it from the oven and place the second bowl on top of the record. Then put everything back into the oven for another 1-2 minutes. This will force the record to form to the shape of the two bowls.
7. Remove everything from the oven and turn the bowls over. This time place your brick, or heavy object into the center and press down firmly.
8. After a few minutes, remove the brick and separate the bowls from the record. If the record sticks to the bowls, place it back in the oven for one minute so it will soften again.
9. Before doing this step, make sure you are still wearing your oven mitts as the record will be very hot. This is the point where you can smooth out any imperfections in the vinyl, and if desired, make a wave shape by softly pushing on the edges of the record.
10. The last step is to simply let the record cool down. It should only take 15-30 minutes for the record to cool completely, and its shape to set in. Now you have a great looking bowl that anyone would love to have in their house.
