Merry Microfiber Blog

Are you crafty and want an idea how to use up all those plastic bags you get in the store.

Well this idea is for you, make yarn out of it. Check out this site:

http://hellejorgensen.typepad.com/gooseflesh/2007/02/plastic_bag_yar.html,

for all the instructions on making yarn out of plastic bags. I have rugs in my house that are made out of bread bags. They wear forever and you can wash them in the washing machine.

Don’t have enough bags, collect them from your friends, use bread bags, and make some rugs or a studier bag for carrying things in.

Go here for an example of a very attractive crocheted “plastic bag” with handles http://gottoknit.blogspot.com/2008/02/plastic-bag-tote-completed.html

Check out this site:  http://www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=593 for patterns for using the plastic bags.

Here is another pattern: http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/round%20plastic%20bag%20tote.html, I like how the bag on this site looked using above pattern: http://gottamake.blogdrive.com/archive/cm-05_cy-2004_m-05_d-28_y-2004_o-0.html

Here is a nice pattern for a shoulder bag/purse: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/03/29/crochet-a-recycled-plastic-shoulder-bag/

Want a round rug try this pattern: http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2008/09/27/recycled-round-plarn-rug/

I hope this gives you some ideas for making some useful items out of all those plastic bags. Make some for gifts for friends or your family; you might even be able to sell them at craft shows or on the internet.

This idea came from Adam W. who posted this on Sustainlane’s Blog.

He suggested making bows and ribbons from old plastic grocery bags.

Here are his steps:

1. Start with 4 bags of equal size.
2. Cut one of the bags lengthwise along both side seams.
3. Wrap this long straight ribbon around the box, tying it off at the top.
4. Knot the remaining 3 bags around the ribbon piece.
5. Snip off the ends of the bow bags.
6. Fan out and fluff for a beautiful bow.

My suggestions: If you have a larger box you will need a larger plastic bag, in order to get a long enough ribbon. I used 2 of the extra bags to make a bow. try to use the same kind of bags so the bow looks the same on each side. If you have different colored bags you can use one for the ribbon and the other for the bows.  I tied the first bag with a knot and cut off remaining ends. Then I twisted the bag so it was easier to tie, and tied it one on the left side, and the other on the right side, leaving the ends hanging, but cutting off loops to make ribbon ends; but letting them hang down under the bow. Finishing by fluffing up the bow. If you have only 2 bags, use one for the ribbon and tie the other in the center of the “ribbon”. Trim and fluff. These will look like big butterfly wings in comparison to how his look.

Try it, play around with it and see what you come up with.

Another idea for using these bags is for storing your Christmas decorations in after the season. You can use them to wrap up your delicate ornaments and other items. I wrap most of my items in a plastic bag before adding to  my totes. It helps to keep lights and stuffed figures from getting tangled up together.

When storing your lights wrap them forming a circle – creating a “light wreath”- then using twisty ties secure the lights and come next year you won’t have a tangled mess of lights to deal with. Throw away those that are worn out and make a list of what you will need for the next season. If possible buy more at the after Christmas sales.

Some other ways I have reused plastic bags are:

• To give flowers away in; I have many flower beds, and when I am digging and dividing flowers I share the leftovers. With the plastic bags, I can write on the bag, the name of the plant, height, sun requirements, and add some water so they don’t dry out in transit.
• When painting, I have used the bags to rewrap my paint rollers in. If I have to prime first, I paint a section of the room, then paint the color I want, put back furniture etc. and move onto the next section of the room. This way I don’t have to keep washing out my rollers, saving time and on water usage.  
• Others uses are when giving old clothes away, or putting clothes in to that you are taking to a friends house.
• We sometimes take plastic bags with us when we are out walking, to put garbage in, that we pick up along side our roadways.
• Need something to put the kids clothes in when visiting grandparents, use plastic grocery bags. They are not too large so are easier to handle, plus they are sturdier than paper bags. Send an extra to put the dirty clothes in too.
• If you have a large amount of mail to take to the post office or pick up from the post office, use a plastic grocery bag.

Let your imagination go and you can maybe think up some more ideas on how to reuse plastic grocery bags, thus helping to eliminate waste in our environment.

To help reduce the amount of plastic bags, some stores are selling reusable green cloth bags to haul your groceries home in. We find they are allot sturdier and hold more. We even took them to with to pick up our meat at the processing plant. They worked out quite well. If you sew you could make your own grocery bags.

Do you have lots of plastic “grocery” bags stuffed in drawers or closets?

Here are some ideas where you can reuse them:

• You can use them when giving away surplus vegetables; I go through lots of them in the summer when my garden is going strong. I even save them up in order to have an amble supply, to use when spring comes, so we can share our extra produce.
• You can use one to transport cookies in to a friend’s house.
• You can use them to take magazines, papers etc that you have for your daughter, sister, friends etc. (We have a custom in our family, we call them “Granny Bags”, because usually when we come from my mom’s house she has papers, magazines, recipes, coupons, whatever she wants to send home with us. So we are usually sent home with a bag from Granny’s. Now when I have “stuff” for my daughter or granddaughter I send it home or take it to them in a plastic “grocery” bag too.
• You can use them to line those small waste paper baskets in your home or office. Saves you money too, from not having to buy so many garbage bags, and you are creating less waste also.
• Put some in your vehicles, RV’s to use as garbage bags, or take them camping to keep garbage in.
• When you are sending packages, and don’t have any packing material, just wrap the items in plastic bags and finish filling the box with more bags.
• You can use them to wrap dirty diapers in, my daughter keeps them in her diaper bag, to have handy when changing the little ones, when on the go.
• Got a pet you need to clean up after, use a plastic bag to dispose of the waste. I use them when cleaning our litter box; I put the waste clumps in the bag and then put it in the garbage.

Keep reading this week as I will give you more ideas on recycling those plastic “grocery” bags.