10 Very Unusual Plastic Bag Crafts

Plastic bags are too ab­und­ant­ly av­ail­able, and too dam­ag­ing to the en­vi­ron­ment to be ig­nored as craft mat­er­ials. Weav­ing, cro­chet and sew­ing are just a coup­le of the ways that clev­er craft­ers re­use this free re­source.

Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Weaving – Craft­ers are now us­ing plas­tic bags for weav­ing. If done clev­er­ly, the fin­ish­ed prod­ucts don’t even vag­ue­ly re­sem­ble the bags you brought your groc­er­ies home from the store in.

2. Crochet – The internet abounds with instructions for plastic bag crocheted projects. Here are links to tutorials for a bowl and a sleeping mat.

3. Knit – Any material that can be used to crochet, can also be used to knit. If knitting is your thing, there are plenty of plastic bag patterns available for you, too.

4. Sewing – Once plastic bags are fused to freezer paper or parchment paper, they can then be sewing into a variety of useful objects. The fused bags can be sewn with a regular sewing machine into virtually anything.

5. Rug Braiding - Plastic bag cut into strips can be turned into braids. The finished braids can then be sewn together to create long lasting area rugs.

6. Macrame – I haven’t been able to find a project for plastic bag macrame, but why wouldn’t it work out just fine?

7. Mold the Bags – Instructables has a tutorial for using plastic bags to mold items.

8. Faux Punch Art - Faux punch art can be made using styrofoam as a base. The results are very nice.

9. Basketry - You can make great looking baskets using plastic bags and cardboard. Good, clear tutorial.

10. Printmaking - Alisa Burke has a wonderful tutorial on printing with plastic bags. Definitely worth checking out.

If anyone has any other ideas, please post them as a message. I’d love to share your thoughts with Craft Stew’s readers.

Read More: Recycled Crafts or Home