Do you have piles of bubble wrap due to online shopping? Check out what artists make with bubble wrap! You can listen to my podcast episode on creative reuse of bubble wrap in this YouTube video. It originally aired in May 2019.
Trashmagination Pinterest board with bubble wrap ideas
Places to Take Unwanted Bubble Wrap
Buy Nothing groups
UPS Store
NEVER in your recycling bin
Crafts Made from Upcycled Bubble Wrap
Painted prints:
Sculpture from shipping “pillows” – glue bottle sculpture (great for art classes) – craft by Cassie Stephens from Everyday Art Room. She talks a lot about creatively reusing materials in her classes.
Homemade soap shaped like a honeycomb
Ironed to make jewelry that looks like mother of pearl
Bubble wrap jewelry tutorial by Steven James in Jewelry Upcycled
“Rainbow shells” bracelet by Jen at Epbot
Snowflake earrings by Jen at Epbot
Halloween Costumes from Bubble Wrap
• Jellyfish costume from a clear umbrella and bubble wrap
• Marg Simpson’s tall blue hair from bubble wrap
• Frog egg mass
• Wings for a bee or fly costume
Artists Who Incorporate Bubble Wrap into their Work
Bradley Hart makes pointillist paintings by injecting paint into the bubbles.
Alicia Wee paints bubble wrap, but not by injecting into it. She paints the surface of the bubbles
The design firm Lo Siento played with injecting liquid into bubble wrap, but instead of paint, they injected colorful water. They made letters in the bubble wrap resulting in a really cool font
Helmut Lang made a bubble wrap jacket in his Spring/Summer 2003 collection.
Moschino included a bubble wrap dress in their Fall 2017 Ready-to-Wear collection.
Suzanne Jongmans also made clothing from bubble wrap, but it was not current fashion. She re-created many medieval and Renaissance clothing styles with bubble wrap and other shipping materials.
In 2012, Makoto Orisaki made huge trees made from bubble wrap.
Luca Gnizio is an ecosocial designer who recycles many materials and his current project involves making storage containers from padded envelopes.
