For a few Christmas gifts this year I’m making record bowls.  Everyone can use decorative bowls for something like office supplies, wrapped candies, candles, or spare change & keys.  Plus, I think this is a good manly gift for my brothers, who are very hard to shop for!

Supplies:  a vinyl record (one that’s not valuable!), oven, oven mitts, oven-safe bowl, an additional bowl for shaping the record after it comes out of the oven, and a cookie tray.

*Safety:  Heating the record creates some fumes, so put on the fan and open the windows.  Be smart & safe when using the oven & molding the hot record…use your oven mitts.  And finally, keep close watch of your record while it’s in the oven.  I’ve never over-cooked or burnt one, but I’m guessing it has the potential to be messy or dangerous.

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.  Turn on a kitchen fan and/or open a window for ventilation.  Wash your record with water & dry it to remove any dust or dirt.

2.  Put your oven-safe bowl upside-down on the cookie sheet.  Center the record on top the bowl and place it in the oven for about 5 minutes.

3.  After a few minutes in the oven, you’ll see the record begin to soften & mold to the shape of the bowl.  Wait a minute or two longer before removing the record from the oven.  The total time should be about 5 minutes, although oven temps & times can vary slightly.

4.  Immediately upon removing the record from the oven, use the oven mitts to place it into the bowl for shaping.  Press it into the desired shape.

You may want to hold certain areas in place until the bowl cools & becomes hardened (less than a minute).  Also, note that each record will have different shape with how it curves.  If you need to slightly reshape the bowl, place it back in the oven for a couple more minutes (on top the oven-safe bowl & cookie tray as before).

5.  When your bowl is cooled, it’s finished!  I made this one to hold office supplies.  When giving them as gifts, I fill the bowls with wrapped candies.