Today I want to share a recycled milk jug project that I saw over at Disney Family Fun. By cutting a milk jug you can create a reusable container that you can use for a lunch box or other purposes. All you need is a plastic one gallon milk jug, a sharp pair of scissors, a marker, a nail or thumb tack, a button and a bit of yarn.
Mark your milk jug as shown and use a sharp pair of scissors to cut away the top and handle portion of the jug.
My first attempt was done free hand and I found it difficult to get my shape even when I marked the jug for cutting. I made this little template below and used it as a guide for marking the jug on my 2nd attempt. Just hold it up to the milk jug to help you mark the shape for your cuts.
It’s very important that you cut up high to the top of the milk jug opening to get the curved flap area for your lunch box. I used a small sharp nail to push the holes through on the plastic to create the folds for the flaps. My milk jug had a natural line molded in the plastic that I used for the line for my holes. Once the holes are punched, you can fold over the flaps along the punched edges.
The original recycled craft project called for a Velcro closure but I wanted to create a simple closure using some spare buttons I had on hand along with a scrap of yarn.
My son recently got married and left us this plastic gift bag along with some other trash at our house after they opened some of their gifts here. Being a recycling person, I looked at the trash and saw some treasures.
Above is the picture of the very big plastic gift bag that had been cut to cover a large gift. It was such a pretty plastic bag that I just couldn’t throw it away even though it had been cut into pieces, had splits and other holes in it. I thought wow I could make something out of that plastic. So out came the scissors and I began to cut strips. Now because of the damage to the plastic bag, I couldn’t cut it into circular strips as I do normally with plastic grocery bags. With this I needed to cut long strips and try to avoid tying too many knots because the plastic is so thick. The knots do not hide well when your plastic is thick or heavy gauge.
I cut up as much usable plastic off the bag pieces to create 1 inch wide yarn. I used a smaller hook — an H (5 mm) metal hook to crochet these items. I must say it was a bit hard on my finger joints. The thick plastic is difficult to work with and it caused me to pull harder on my work as I crocheted.
I crocheted this coaster out of my recycled wedding bag. The coaster is crocheted using the same pattern as the link here but with 1 inch single strand strips of plastic bag. You also need to add one additional round to make the coaster big enough as I used an H hook instead of the bigger hook I usually use.
Star and Pot Scrubber
The star is also a new project for me. I am experimenting with it using plastic bags for a hair barrette. You could also use the star as an embellishment to any project you may be crafting. I am crocheting more stars now and will be posting the pattern here shortly.
Then I crocheted this pot scrubber out of my recycled wedding bag. The scrubber pattern is below and varies just slightly from my other scrubber that is coming out soon using plastic bags.
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Crocheted Scrubber Pattern using a Recycled Wedding Bag
Scrubber measures 3-3/4 inches wide across.
Material: Single strand plastic cut into 1 inch long strips
Hook: Metal H hook
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