What is Sintra? I didn’t know either until I exhausted some poor student artist at the university bookstore with questions, who was also buying some. It was 75% off which came out to 65 cents each piece…so he looked excited about it… which made me curious.
He told me that it is mold-able and bendable when heated up in boiling water. Many people use it to mount photos. It is like a PVC plastic material and can be cut with a jig-saw like wood. He uses it to make models of things – wow way over my head.
So I thought I would give it a go and make them into something easy -BOWLS. I bought three pieces but only used two. I am going to bug a friend for her jig-saw with piece number three.
Okay…so this is what I did.
I took the Sintra…see kind of pricey for just a piece of plastic at the bookstore, but the student artist guy informed me that it is usually about $1.50 at other art stores. I am just glad I got it for 65 cents. :)
One big challenge was finding a pot wide enough to fit this large a piece of Sintra. I had to dip it in, in parts.
I brought water to a rolling boil and then dipped the plastic in one corner at a time for about 10-15 seconds. Then I bent it inward to make my bowl. It does take some muscle. I was sweating at the end probably from the steam from the boiling water but also from the work it took to bend it just right.
I went kind of crazy bending it this way and that. A little too crazy because as forgiving as Sintra is…it does have a breaking point:
I just bent this part in so the crack wouldn’t be exposed – shhhhh.
I wanted the bottom of my bowl to lie flatter than it was so I set it on top of the pot for about 15 seconds and then pressed it against the counter …and repeated this a couple of times until I was satisfied.
And done.
So not for everyone…pretty “modern art” looking, which I kind of totally love. :)
Now we have an extra fruit bowl….
…and a cool plate that can be used for chips and dip or for a party serving platter….I am thinking the black will be great for Halloween too. :)
I have never seen that before. I want to go find some and try it myself! Thanks for sharing!
oh wow. Never heard of that. Too cool. I had no idea where you were going with it the post at first. From the first pic, I was hoping you were sharing a yummy lime-tortilla chip recipe :).
VERY COOL creation! I'll have to look into that.
Wow, I've never heard of Sintra before. Don't know if I can get it in the UK. The bowl looks AMAZING – like the fruit is just sitting in it's wrapping… go make more!!
Cool, I've never seen anything like that!
How cool! Seen them before but never knew what it was called or that it was so easy!!
hey taht looks really cool! i love the simple white with lots of pretty yellow lemons in it ;)
Wow, thank you for this tutorial!
This bowl looks so sophisticated, I love it. I've never heard of Sintra, now I've gotta go find some.