Jewelry Created from PET Bottles by Gülnur Ozdaglar

Gülnur Ozdaglar lives in Ankara, Turkey, and is an architect by trade. Architecture, however, is not her only area of expertise. Gülnur also designs remarkable jewelry. Remarkable because of it's beauty, yes, but also because of it's concept and the material from which they are made. Her delicate and sculptural pieces are created from PET bottles. Specifically, recycled plastic drinking bottles. You know, the kind that is filling up our garbage cans AND our landfills?

The concept is simple. Gülnur collects plastic bottles. In fact, all her friends and neighbors do the same. The bottom portion of the large plastic bottles becomes the material for the bowls she also creates, the remaining parts are used for her jewelry. The construction is simple. She cuts the plastic into pieces according to her design, forms them with heat, pierces them with a soldering iron, and arranges them to suit her creation. However, the design and aesthetics are not simple. For that, you would have to be Gülnur. After all, it is her artistic sensibility and designing skills that go into each piece of hand crafted brooch, necklace, or earrings.

We all know, or should be aware, of our growing environmental issues. Our planet is being bombarded with synthetic "material" that can be recycled and transformed into reusable products, instead of wasting space and potentially harming the environment and our health. And, that is what Gülnur is doing one piece of beautiful jewelry and art bowl at a time.

Visit her blog to see more of her craft HERE. And, her Etsy site HERE. And, Gülnur has been generous enough to create a tutorial on how to make an art bowl from PET bottles. You can find her instructions HERE. ~Jewelry construction from Gülnur Ozdaglar

Images of jewelry copyrighted by Gülnur Ozdaglar, and posted with consent.