Crafting with recyclables

Old plastic bags, video and audio cassettes can all be recycled into new useful items.

Audio cassettes and video tapes have seen their day. The tapes are stretched and today there are CDs and DVDs to take their place. While we do have some cassette and video tapes that are still usable most of ours are boxed up and stored in the garage. They were destined for the dump but then we discovered they could be recycled into other useful items.

We recently came across a blog site that was created by a lady who loves to do crafts. She has created many patterns to crochet with the tape from old cassettes and videos. Other crafts she has created are from recycled fabric as well as from plastic grocery bags.

The crochet patterns include many styles of purses, tote bags, gift bags, lunch sack bag, as well as doll clothes, Easter basket, water bottle holder, baby bib, coasters, covered hangers, clothes pin bag, rugs and pot scrubbers. Most of the patterns use “plarn,” a yarn made from plastic grocery bags. After cutting the handles off the bags they are cut in one inch strips and then looped together to make a long chain. The chain is then rolled into a ball just like yarn. It can then be used to crochet with.

One crochet pattern using “plarn” is for a handbag designed after a knockoff pattern of a hobo handbag that was sold by Nordstrom. Other purse patterns are simpler but nice looking as well as useful.

Patterns using the cassette tape to crochet with include doll clothes and purses. Recycled fabric from old denim jeans are used to crochet and sew purses, Christmas stockings and potholders. Another purse pattern uses recycled sheets and curtains. Bread bags are used to crochet a cosmetic bag as well as a handbag.

Some of the items made are embellished with ribbon. Others include cotton yarn, fury yarn and ribbon crocheted right along with the plastic bag “plarn.”

This website is at myrecycledbags.com. The lady who created this site in January 2007 is named Cindy. Most of the site is about patterns and ideas for recycling. All the patterns on the site are free. She also has instructions on making “plarn.” There is also a small section where she offers for sale some of the handbags she has made.

A new section of the site is dedicated to her “pink journey.” She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March of this year. She has described the different steps of her experience from the time of her diagnosis to the present. Those who have experienced cancer can relate to her experiences and send encouragement.

We like using recycled materials whenever we can. Other articles we have written about using recycled materials include: using denim jeans to make gift bags, using junk paper and scrap fabric to make recycled paper, quart size milk cartons to make decorative birdhouses, old lace arm chair and couch arm and head covers to make vests, denim from jeans for a dog bed, old socks to make a dog blanket and beads from old necklaces along with seed beads to make new necklaces. They are all on this blog site.

We are always interested in finding new ideas for recycling old unusable items into new useful ones. Readers who have more ideas on recycling are welcome to list them in the comments.