Tag Archive | "recycled"
I wanted to revisited some of my recycled Valentine’s themed projects. Over the years, I have crocheted and sewn several fun projects that might inspire some of you to try these for Valentine’s Day. Plus it’s eye candy for any plarn and denim lovers out there.
Here is a recycled plastic Valentine’s card holder that adults and children can both make together. It uses some pieces of red and white recycled plastic bags, scrap yarn, ribbon and a small remnant of red felt to make. The full picture tutorial and directions can be found at the fused plastic Valentine’s heart link.
Here is a little Valentine’s basket that is crocheted using recycled plastic bags or plarn.
This little basket or bag could be used to hold Valentine cards or as a little gift bag for a loved one. The free pattern is found here.
I promised some recycled denim projects and here are a few cute little purses to share.
For an upcoming Library fundraiser, I have been working on this auction bucket of items.
The bucket includes a recycled tote bag crocheted from plastic bags made into plarn, a potholder towel, a heart cloth, a bottle of wine, wooden spoons, candles, chocolates, and a crocheted dish scrubbie.
Here are photos of the potholder towel and the dish scrubbie I crocheted with cotton yarn and a strip of netting held together.
It is a new year and time for a new recycled bag! What better way to kick off a new year but with a new homemade reusable and upcycled tote bag. This tote bag was crocheted using about 45 brown plastic bags and 12 reddish-colored newspaper delivery sacks.
Here is a closeup of the top and handles.
This bag is very similar to my basic crocheted tote bag pattern but with a few changes including two stripes. The two stripes were added by cutting up 12 recycled plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in. Here is the tutorial link for cutting newspaper sacks into plarn to use as yarn.
I have provided the full new crochet pattern below for everyone’s personal use. As always, my patterns are free and I hope people will enjoy them.
Two Stripe Plarn Tote Bag Crochet Pattern
Materials needed: Plastic bag yarn “Plarn” in main color brown (40+ bags) cut 1 inch wide
and approx. 12 contrasting colored plastic bags for stripes
Hook: N (9 mm) size metal hook
Description: Recycled Plastic Tote Bag
Bag measures 12 inches wide and 12 inches long with 5 inch handles
Directions:
Ch 28
Halloween is just around the corner but there is still time to do some recycled crafting. I like to share patterns and crafting ideas using recycled materials such as plastic bags / plarn here at My Recycled Bags.
Here is a favorite recycled plastic Halloween trick or treat basket. The free crochet pattern is found here.
Not only is this a reusable basket, it features a sturdy recycled microwave tray for the base. So this project is a double recycled crafting project with two different types of recycled materials. Plus it’s a cool-looking trick or trick basket to hold lots of Halloween goodies.
You can find all the different Halloween posts and projects that I have shared over the years
I posted a few weeks ago about my crocheted plarn tote that a customer ordered to hold her recycled paper. I have been working on writing the crochet pattern and am happy to post it today.
Here is the crocheted base which is done in single crochet for added strength.
One final photo of the recycled tote bag laying down and showing the base.
So without further ado, here is the free crochet plarn pattern for this recycled tote bag. Please enjoy and share any comments with me concerning the project below.
Recycled Paper Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
Plarn yarn 1” wide – approx. 90 plastic grocery bags
Hooks: K (6.5 mm) & N (9 mm) metal crochet hooks
Description: Recycled Plastic Tote Bag
Bag measures 18″ wide, 12” tall and 7” deep with 8.5” handles
Directions:
Recycled bag is crocheted in 2 pieces. A base piece is crocheted and then the sides are worked in the round to complete the bag.
Row 1 (Base piece)
With K crochet hook, Ch 52. Turn and Hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in each chain stitch down to end. Ch 2 and turn.
Twiddle muffs are used by people who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia. The twiddle muffs provide them with something to hold and manipulate, and something to fidget with thus the name twiddle muff. The result of twiddling with the different textures and items on the muff has a calming effect on a person. Plus it doubles as a hand warmer which can provide additional comfort for a person.
It is a great project in which to use recycled materials. I set out to use such things as plastic juice rings, plastic bags, old buttons, beads and ribbon along with different textures of yarns.
I had this special green plastic bag that was sent to me from an on-line friend. I used the green bag to crochet this 4-leaf plarn clover.
I used fun fur to crochet around a recycled milk jug ring that is sewn on the twiddle muff below.
I’ve had recycling a dog food bag on my to-do list for quite some time. I’ve saved several of the plastic webbed food bags and just needed to rinse them out and upcycle them into tote bags. The first step was to remove the dog food odor and clean them.
I opened the bottom seam of the bag as it was just taped closed. I washed them out in the bath tub and then rinsed once with white vinegar and let them air dry. There still was a hint of dog food smell so I sprayed down the inside of the bag using a homemade citrus-vinegar solution. After another rinse and dry, the bags smelled clean with no hint of dog food.
Once the bags are all clean and dry, I was ready to start cutting. For the larger tote, I cut the bottom off just above the writing and details of the bag. I did this to try and eliminate some of the boring part of the bag. I then cut part of the top off and folded over the top edge twice to make a nice hem. The finished size of the recycled dog food tote bag is 17 inches tall, 15 inch wide and 6 inches deep at the base. I used some webbing strap material to add the handles and just folded them under the hem before sewing the top hem in place. This secured the handles in place and hid the ends of the webbing. The finished length of the handles are 10 inches long on my bag shown.
Here is the inside of the tote bag with the bottom sewn
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.
I am back sharing another free recycled plarn pattern that I created. I used a satchel style strap design in this crocheted tote bag using plastic bags. The white bags are just regular grocery sacks and the pink ones are plastic newspaper bags that I have been getting from my local library. I used the combination to craft this satchel styled tote which I hope you will enjoy.
Best wishes and happy crafting to all!
Satchel Styled Recycled Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn in white (approx. 40 bags)
Small ball of pink plarn (approx. 20 bags)
Hook: J (6 mm) metal crochet hook
Description: Tote bag
Bag measures 14 inches wide and 10 inches long with 14 inches handles
Directions:
Using pink plarn, Ch 26.
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