Monday, April 11, 2011

Upcycled Reusable Tote

Upcycling is one of my favorite hobbies. And if you're like me, then you have reusable grocery bags. But never remember to take them to the store. And now you have hundreds of plastic bags under your sink and in the plastic bag dispenser on the wall...

I've found great uses for these after you learn how to iron plastic.

Just iron (on the rayon setting) 8 sheets of plastic (one bag is two sheets) together, between to pieces of wax/parchment paper. Printer paper works, too. Iron continuously for about 15 seconds on each side. Make sure there are no bubbles. When you peel it away... Plastic fabric! You can sew it in your machine easily!


I've made an apron for my son to use while painting, a plastic bag dispenser (made out of plastic bags!) and my favorite... The upcycled reusable tote bag.


They're easy to make and get rid of bags quick. Family members will line up for these; making them great gifts.

Be sure to recycle any plastic scraps you have leftover the next time you go to the grocery store. Just drop it in the recycled bag bin. Every store usually has one by the exit.

4 comments:

  1. Love, love, love! Your first paragraph amuses me. I always forget my reusable bags and the funny thing is, reusable bags are what I make (crochet) to sell on etsy! They are almost always in the trunk of the car, so I've gotten into the habit of not getting a cart or basket when I walk into a store and only buy what I can carry in my arms, that way I don't over buy and I can tell them I don't need a bag and I just add my purchase to the bags in the trunk. I'm thinking you should make these to sell in your shop if you have extras.

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  2. And btw, how did you do the donation thing on the sidebar???

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  3. Diana, that's a great idea, thanks! (I love to crochet, too.)

    I actually used to be a graphics designer, so I made that image, then put a link to my PayPal donation page on it.

    Feel free to use it and link to your PayPal page. :)

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  4. Nice! I'd love to do graphic design but I'm awful with computers. I married a computer god who does everything for me now. lol. I'm better at non-technical stuff. And thank you!

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