I present my plarn fat bottom bag that I crocheted using recycled plastic newspaper bags. You may remember me saying that it is difficult for me to obtain pretty colors in plastic bags for my crafting. Well thanks to a suggestion from a blogger friend, I asked my local library to save their newspaper bags for me. They have been giving me one pink and one orange plastic bag daily from their newspapers. Anyway I saved up the plastic bags and crocheted my first fat bottom bag.
You may notice that the pink shade on the last few rounds of the bag and handles are darker. That was because the newspaper company changed the color of bags they were using. At first I was upset that I couldn’t finish my recycled bag using all the same color of pink but then once I was forced to use the darker bags, it turned out to be a nice contrast for the finished project.
As I mentioned this is my first fat bottom crocheted bag. The original pattern in written only in Portuguese. But there is an English chart and a wonderful tutorial including the lining over at Bend Beanies Blog which is a life saver. She has great pictures and helpful tips to help translate this awesome free pattern.
Below you will find some pictures I took as I worked the pattern.
I finished up this crocheted earthtone kitchen set for my Mom’s birthday. It includes a round ripple dishcloth that I made using Julee’s RR dishcloth pattern. I changed it up a bit and made the center flat.
Below is my open mesh magic dishcloth along with a scrubbie dot I crocheted using recycled plastic bags.
Click on photos to supersize them
Next is a hostess gift I put together for a friend. It includes another RR dishcloth and a plarn scrubbie dot. The little flowered tag is cut from a recycled greeting card. I thought it matched the gift and look perfect for a Spring gift so I used it as my gift tag.
Anyway just wanted to check in with everyone and show some of my recent crocheting. I’ve am busy finishing up a fat bottom bag I am crocheting from pink plastic newspaper bags and just started a special order purse being crocheted from vcr tape for a repeat customer of mine. I will be back soon to share all those recycled craft projects with you as soon as I get them done.
Happy crafting everyone!
This month over at the Trash to Treasures group on Ravelry we are having a fabric and clothing scraps challenge. So I broke out some old jeans I have been saving and recycled them into some baby bibs.
The first bib is larger and I used the trimmed side seams from a pair of jeans for the bib ties. This bib is more suitable for an older baby or toddler.
My next bib is smaller and features ribbon for the ties. I thought the ribbon would be gentler for a younger baby’s skin than the denim ties.
Below you will find a picture tutorial showing how I made each of these recycled denim heart bibs.
I present this years recycled Easter basket parade. Each basket has either been crafted with recycled materials or could be made using recycled materials. This cute basket with the monkey was crocheted by my friend Carmen using recycled plastic bags and an ice cream lid ring for her top edge. Both of these Easter baskets above were crocheted using my Easter plarn pattern here.
This crocheted rug has been a work in progress for quite some time. I’m happy to say its done — Yea! It is completely crocheted from plastic trash. I used recycled bags from bread, hotdog buns, bagels, toilet paper, frozen foods, hashbrowns, paper towel packaging, hamburger buns, taco shells, hoagie buns, and other pieces of plastic from numerous products having plastic packaging. This plastic is the heavier gauge stuff and it’s much harder to crochet and does make your hands and joints sore.
Because this plastic was much heavier than the normal thin plastic grocery bags, I cut the strips only about 1/2 inch wide. I cut the plastic into strips using my standard plarn making method to assemble the plastic strips.
I crocheted it all using single crochet stitches as this is a bit easier on the hands. A word of advice though, take lots of breaks from this project as it will help your hands and joints from getting too sore. Also if your rug doesn’t want to lay down flat, apply some gentle heat from a blow dryer, and flatten out your rug as you warm up the plastic. This really helped as my rug wanted to curl up a bit but with the heat from the dry blower, I was able to get my rug to lay down fairly flat.
Below you will find the general directions for crocheting this recycled plastic rug. Please be aware that this pattern is just a loose guideline for making your own unique rug using recycled plastic. You may need to add a few more stitches here and there so your ends lay down flat. I re-worked several rounds at times as the rug just didn’t want to lay down very flat. But remember the dry blower tip and try this out if needed. With that being said, enjoy the project and happy crocheting!
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Recycled Plastic Oval Rug Pattern
Materials needed:
Plastic bread bags and any other plastic packaging that you can cut into loops 1/2 inch wide
to create plastic bag yarn or plarn.
Hook:
N (9 mm) USA size crochet hook
Description:
Recycled plastic oval rug measures 16 inches wide and 30 inches long
Directions:
Ch 36 (approx. 14 inches)
My Easter basket project this year uses the bottom of a laundry soap bottle and plastic bags. I cut the bottom off a plastic soap bottle and used it as a base for my Easter basket. I then crocheted around the base and up with recycled plastic bags or plarn.
The pink bunny was crocheted using AmiAmour’s free crochet pattern found here. This is my first official ami animal and while I’m not going into the ami making business, I was pleased with the outcome of my Easter bunny.
Oh and I used cut up plarn for the grass in my Easter basket. That way it can be recycled after the holidays into another project. Happy Easter!
Free Pattern for Recycled Plastic Easter Basket
Materials needed:
Plastic bags cut into 3/4″ strips of white bags (3-4 bags)
And approx. 4-5 bags of green and yellow plastic bags
1) Plastic handle from a soap box or other plastic strap
1) Plastic laundry soap base cut from bottle
Metal punch and hammer for making holes in plastic base
Hooks: H (5 mm) US sized metal hook
and J ( 6 mm) US size crochet hook
Small Steel crochet hook for first round on base
Description: Recycled Plastic Easter Basket
Basket measures 7″ wide and 4-1/4″ tall with 20″ handle strap
at base 6″ wide and 3″ across.
Directions:
Using the base cut from a laundry soap bottle (mine was 6″ long and 3″ wide), punch holes around the base as shown in the photo. I used a metal punch and a hammer to put my holes in the plastic base.
Here are my two latest baby afghans that I crocheted for the NICU Baby Blanket drive. The first is a round ripple afghan that I crocheted using reclaimed yarn from a thrift store sweater. The white cotton yarn was from a thrift store yarn cone I picked up.
Here is a before picture of the sweater and then a picture of one of the balls of reclaimed yarn I got from unraveling this thrift store sweater. My baby RR measures 36 inches across and I still have leftover yarn from the unraveled sweater for another project. I found reclaiming the yarn from this old cotton sweater fairly easy and very rewarding to create something new and useful.
Next is a starghan baby blanket I crocheted using some worst yarn from my stash. I had some issues with this pattern and it does not lay completely flat but still turned out okay.
Both of these blankets will be making they way to Kathryn who heads up the charity drive for the 4th Annual Baby Blanket Drive at her local hospital. It was a joy to crochet these blankets for the sweet little babies and I hope they bring comfort to the little ones and their families.
Here are my colorful plarn scrubbies I crocheted using Doni’s scrubbie dots pattern. I used a “J” (6 mm) crochet hook and followed her pattern instructions using recycled plastic bags cut about 3/4″ wide as shown in my plarn-making-tutorial. The finished dimensions for my scrubbies are 4 inch wide if you follow the exact pattern directions but use plarn instead of cotton yarn.
I just love this quick and so cute pattern. The nice thing about these scrubbies is that they only take about 2 colored and two white plastic bags to crochet each scrubbie. If you are like me, it’s hard to get colored bags so this is the perfect recycled crafting project to use those uniquely colored bags.
Enjoy this pretty and very useful crochet pattern. Have fun experimenting with colored bags to create your own unique recycled scrubbie!
Two years ago today, I was told that I had breast cancer. I will never ever forget the feelings and utter terror I felt that day. My mind ran through all the different scenarios and I faced some of the most terrifying moments of my life after my diagnoses. As I look back, its the unknown that was the worst. It’s not knowing what the outcome would be and questioning myself about my strength to face this beast.
I have heard many people say that battling cancer makes you a better person. You don’t take things for granted. You love your family a bit deeper and you know how fragile your good health can be. You face your fears. You endure surgery, chemo, hair loss, and radiation. You fight to get well and get your life back as you once knew it. And you remember to enjoy each and every precious minute of your life.
Sure it’s been hard, I won’t try and sugar-coat cancer. There is nothing sweet about it. It tears you and your family apart and you are never the same again. Yes you can get better and yes you learn that you can face your worst days. You heal and become a stronger person for all that you have experienced. You find a new strength within yourself and you move on.
So as I look back on this two year cancerversary, I am thankful to God above and feel blessed that I’m cancer free now. I look forward to many more years of good health, loving my family, and enjoying my life. I know that I am stronger and that I can and have faced cancer. I move on now with a new sense of courage and conviction.
In closing, I want to express my gratitude for all your love, support and prayers. You have all helped me more than you will ever know to be able to endure and succeed in this journey that I began two years ago. Thank you all!
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