ATLA's trial blogger Beth continues with part two of her decorative centerpiece how-to (check out part one here)
We love how-to's that are easy to do and incorporate items you most likely already own. For this how-to, you'll need some colorful records (this time NOT from a collection) and an oven. First, you'll want to preheat your oven to 225 degrees. After placing a cookie sheet in the center of the oven, place an oven safe bowl on the cookie sheet upside down. Finally, put your colorful record on top of the upside down bowl for about 5 minutes...
When you take your record out of the oven (does that sound weird to anyone else?!) it will be malleable. Tweak the warm vinyl into a desirable shape using the upside down bowl as a guide.. if the vinyl is too hot to touch, throw on some oven mitts. Your new centerpiece will turn hard in a matter of minutes.
Some ideas for your centerpiece are a tray for keys and sunglasses, a flower pot (since the record has a pre-cut hole for drainage), matches, ect. Happy baking!
-Beth

Commercial Flour Sa...
How is this different than the last post on this topic?
Fumes?
Different people have the same ideas at the same time?
Why not? How many people have useless records sitting around the office. Especially scratched albums... time to put those suckers to work... and live a second life other than in the trash.
I love it! Great idea for how to use our old records in a creative way. I'm always looking for a good place to put keys, etc. and this makes it fun & cute as well as practical. I never would have thought about baking a record, but I will give it a try.
I have always wanted to try this idea - thanks for the instructions!! Another great, fairly easy idea and great post!
i think this idea is brilliant! it's crazy how negative some people get on these boards. it's a simple idea! a suggestion! use it or don't! i plan to. another great post, beth!
Don't the potential writers read the site? We've seen this, it's not that amazing, and I guess I expect more. Maxwell doesn't repeat inane ideas--why should anyone else?
Why does the LA site consistently fall short of the NYC standard?
How cool is this, Beth!
Thanks for the idea...Judy
Sure, it's a good idea. It also appeared on AT less than a month ago. Beth, hon: research, research, research when you are looking for a job.
And when CDs become obsolete? Coasters!
Although, I do not by any means feel that records are obsolete, I think this is a fun idea! I have seen similar items sell in stores for $30-40! Thanks for giving us the inside scoop!
I don't get the popularity of the record bowl. I guess I keep waiting for someone to come up with some other use for old records.
Well, if this has been posted before, I haven't seen it, so thanks Beth! Fun and crafty... an interesting and cheap project that I could do without too much prep. Nice one!
Is this some kind of sick plot to kill us all off with toxic gases?
WOW, I think this is a cute idea. It is cute as a decorative piece. Good idea for chips and other goodies at a "rock n roll" themed party .It is a creative idea and one we could share with others. I have never seen this idea before.Neat presentation Beth!
Wow, I don't think i've ever seen a post bashed so much like this before. If you think its so trashy, overdone, or ''dangerous" why don't you post about something you think is so much more innovative and original? I just think some of the rude comments are so unnecessary .
I agree that its easy to be negative and much harder to be constructive - however;
Mishlyn
MrMischief
Farfalla1
Brookelini
jbrown1979
momof3
Kharo
MrAJ
New Order
Iambelle
Scarpitta
Shopgirl123
dta
hbh
All have 2 things in common - they all having glowing things to say about Beths 2 trial posts and all of their profiles were created on a day that one of Beths posts appeared on AT.
PEOPLE - stop being so harsh to the rookie unless your willing to submit an article yourself.
BETH - Suck it up princess, anonymous readers will throw stones without consequence.
The thing is I've been seeing blog posts and articles about making record bowls and how it's this *new* and *innovative* idea over and over and over for about 6 years (and 6 internet years is like 15 really years, right?). Next thing you know there will be posts about this *fabulous* new technique called Marble Magnets! Enough already.
Yawn... If you're going to post this now, and you came up with this idea yourself, say so. If, as I'm fairly certain is the case, you found this project in an old DIY magazine, or one of these bowls on Etsy, or by perusing the recent AT archives, just say that. There's nothing wrong with bringing an old idea to people's attention now, but please be honest about its origins!
BogusATpost -- LOL. Luckily, the "friend" members are usually easy to spot.
Wow, what can I say, I guess the conversation starters worked. I actually own both centerpieces--the drum sticks are all from shows that I attended (Built to Spill, Minus the Bear, Midlake, the Comas--to name a few). The record bowl sits on a side table. It usually holds spare change but I thought the sunglasses and keys made for a more interesting picture. Thank you for all your comments--especially AlmostAD--I hadn't thought of doing that with the tapes and I think it's a pretty neat idea.
--Beth
If the drum sticks are from shows, why didn't you mention that in the original post--that is interesting, not that I'm so in love with the centerpiece idea. But the personal information (except "we collected our sticks at concerts we attended" which blows) is cool and in this case, explains why the object have meaning for you. Do that next time, minus your new socky-puppety pals.
(And no, the sunglasses and keys don't make a good photo, but the red bowl on the pale blue surface is good.)
This is pretty good! I am a collector of pretty much anything I think is unusual or that might have some use sometime. I can now get to put these to good use. Thanks for the ideas.
a.
fyi: BogusATpost - i only posted ONCE - about the drumstick centerpiece because i thought it was really good. i was impressed enough to post a comment for the first time at AT.
i can't believe how petty and downright rude some of you people are. why? why? why? negative/nasty/rude people ruin it for those of us who simply want to enjoy the ideas presented at websites like this whether we like them or not. that's really sad. thanks. nice work. i guess i'll just keep enjoying the websites and ideas and ignore the comments.
It's not rude to point out when writers on this site don't even read the site enough to know ideas like this have been posted several times before (and recently, too!) We like the site and see the quality going downhill with the influx of new posters.
Also, this IS toxic, please be careful when doing it. And don't put food in the bowl!