Flying Saucer, Alien Recycled UFO.

I feel like my family makes a lot more trash during the holidays, so I found some ways to turn some of the stuff, that "would be" trash, into something new. And it isn't enough to make it new, it has to be something we actually want hanging around our house.
So I made a few examples of this Alien Saucership so you can see how different shaped pieces can add character to your UFO.

1. Plastic Pie Ship - I was excited to spot this unwanted plastic because of the awesome spacy-shape it already has, a clear lid that gives me more design options, and the lid already fits firmly onto the bottom without using glue.
- a plastic pie dish from a pumpkin pie. Top and bottom. (The foil pan inside was removed, but could have been used as a ship too.)
-A clear plastic cup or bottle. 2 to 4 inches wide. Preferable dome shaped. I used the top half of a plastic water bottle.
-Big Sturdy Scissors or a Craft Knife
- Elmer's glueAll
-Silver spray paint. ( I like rustoleum Metallic Silver. It covers good, dries fast, and is very shiny. )
- White, Black,, and Glow in the Dark Craft paint.
-Round Stickers or labels
-3ft of string
-2inch foam square
-Small Detail brush or q-tip

Other options include:
-paper or plastic plates
-Paper or Plastic Bowls.- Any round Saucer or Disc shaped, Plastic disposable-dish.
-And clear round plastic cup shape to use as dome over alien cockpit.
- a small plastic alien toy
-masking tape cut into shapes to use as stencils
-Fishing line to hang your UFO,
-hot glue gun with glue sticks

Before I paint my flying saucer silver, I'm going to use round stickers, cut in half, as stencils.
- I'm placing the half circle stickers around the outside of my ship. (Since the plastic is clear, it should look like windows.)
I was going to use full circles so they would look like portholes, but this plastic lid has rounded half circle shapes, so I'm going to amplify the shape I have, instead of trying to change it.
-put your saucer's top half topside-up and the bottom half, bottom-up, on a large surface covered in newspaper or plastic.
-Shake Paint can well before starting
- Holding paint can 10 to 16 inches away from your surface, spray paint evenly with side to side sweeping movements. Or Follow the instructions on your brand of paint.
--2 thin coats of paint is better that a thick coat.It dries faster and will be less likely to chip.
-Allow to dry thoroughly before handling. (About 1hour is all that is needed for the Metallic Rustoleum)

!Caution: Only use spray paint in a well ventilated area or outdoors. If you are under 18 you must ask for adult assistance.!
!Use a proper face mask to prevent toxic effects of aerosol paint that becomes airborne.. It is very hard to remove from your skin and nails, so you want to avoid that by wearing latex safety gloves.!

I used a clear plastic water bottle. I had first thought the bottom of the water bottle would work best, but when I cut the bottle in half, I liked the shape of the top of the bottle more.
-Remove the label from an empty water bottle and cut in half using a sharp xacto knife. Try to keep your cut as straight as possible so that it will sit flat against your ship. (Making it easier to glue.)
-Next, Carefully cut off the top of the bottle with your Craft Knife. (This plastic is thicker around the rim, so it is harder to cut. You may prefer to pierce a hole with the craft knife, then use your scissors to cut the bottle in both places.)

Scissors can cut through the thin plastic easily, but it is difficult to pierce the side of the bottle with scissors without damaging the bottle.

The only rule for making an alien to fly your ship, is; you need to make sure your alien will fit inside the dome and has a flat base that you can glue down to the ship. I have drawn a few examples of alien shapes that can be cut from foam or cardstock.
- I cut an alien from waist up out of a lightweight plastic foam using my Craft Knife.
- I painted the alien with a coat of white paint. And let dry.
-I then painted over the white with Glow in the dark paint, then I let it dry.
(The glow in the Dark paint will be able to glow much brighter if it is applied over a coat of white paint)
-Once your space pilot is completely dry, you can paint a face with black paint, using a detail brush or a q-tip. You can also use a black marker if you prefer.
-Glue the bottom of the alien Pilot in place in the top center of the space ship.

You can use a small alien toy figure, other silly figurine or action figure painted alien-green, cut one out of cardstock or cardboard, make one of paper mache, or find some packing foam that was going to be thrown out.

I knew it was going to be tricky to glue two pieces of plastic together, especially with such a thin surface area. So I made a seal out of paper to hold the base of the dome.
-Cut a strip of regular white paper about
8 1/2inches long and 1/2 inch wide.
-Cut 1/8inch cuts 3per every inch (See image)
-Then fold it in half down the length of the paper so you have a bunch of small tabs that spread out when you curve one side.
-Glue the solid half of your strip to the inside rim of your dome base, then glue the bottom side of each tab to the top of your spaceship as you can see in my photos.

I added:
-Glow inthe Dark lights -On the inside of the clear plastic "windows" I had from stencils in step 1 of my UFO. I put dabs of glow in the dark paint. It was my hope that it would look like tiny lights.
-Textured patterns Using Glue. - On the top of my space ship, I used my Elmer's Glue All to draw on patterns. (This added an extraterrestrial element as well as helped to cosmetically improve the large space where I couldn't fully remove the sticker label.)
-once glue dries thoroughly you can paint over it with silver paint or with Glow in the Dark paint for a less subtle look.
-Glow in the dark tape is also a good idea if, I am going to use Glow in Dark tape on my Space ship made with paper bowls. I am going to tape around the outside where both bowls meet, because there is a lip folded over that would be great place for Glow tape.

-Carefully punch three holes around the outside of your spaceship. About 1/8 inch is fine.
- Tie a 12 inch piece of string to each hole, then tie all 3 strings together above Your Alien's Head. (I tied a knot at about 8 or 9 inches, then tied a second knot at the end of the strings. That gave me a loop to hang it from.
-It is best if you can hang it from above, so that it doesn't bump the wall. It will look great hanging freely and able to spin a little. You can even try to find a location where it will catch a draft from a vent or fan. Then it will give it more life when it flies on its own.