Black Friday: DIY
Today as you’re all out shopping, or just getting home from shopping you’ll probably notice the insane amount of plastic bags you’ve been collecting throughout the day. The bags will either end up getting thrown away, or sit around for awhile until someone needs to carry something. Instead of throwing them out and adding to the mass amount of landfill, why not learn how to make a more durable bag that you can take shopping over and over again?
Fusing your plastic bags to make a more durable bag
What you’ll need:
- Plastic bags, the flimsy ones work the best
- Parchment paper, freezer paper, or copier paper
- Iron and an ironing surface (may want to move it closer to a window due to the fumes)
What to do:
1. Flatten a bag and trim the bottom seam and cut off the handles. It should be a rectangular piece now.
2. Turn the bag inside out if it has any type of design on it. The ink will make a mess if you don’t. If you would like to preserve the design on the bag because it looks neat or is a brand you love you can layer clear plastic bags around it.
3. Layer up about 6-8 plastic bags for a larger section, or you can fold some bags to use less and have a small section.
4. Once you have your bags layered sandwich them in between two sheets of parchment paper. Preferably larger than what your bags are. Run the hot iron over the parchment paper for about 15 seconds and make sure you get the edges of the bags. Flip it over and repeat for a few seconds.
5. Start to peel the corner of the parchment paper to see if the bags have fused together. It may be a little hot, so be careful. If they’re not quite fused together run the iron over them a little bit more.
6. Once you have the first sheet done make another identical one for the other side of your reusable bag. For the bottom of the bag customize the shape to make the bag however wide you want, and do the same for the sides. Once you have all your pieces you can either fuse them together or you can add some color and stitch them together.
Category: Apartment Life, Going Green
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Very good suggestion, indeed. It’s not just a prudent option, it will also help us save from the tons of unnecessary added trash this month. Thank you for this post.