Plastic Bags Upcycled into a Clothespin Bag
White plastic bags are used by many retail and grocery stores these days. They are not the prettiest bags to use for crafting. People give me lots of white plastic bags to recycled. So I’ve been trying to be more creative and come up with clever ideas to turn these dull bags into cute and useful items. What do you think of my clothespin bag with a ribbon bow tie?
Here is a hobo bag I crocheted too. It’s amazing how much a little ribbon adds to the projects. Click on my hobo bag and see if you think it makes a cute summer purse.
Click to view full-sized photos
Here’s an example of adding some fun fur to spice up those white bags in this recycled tote bag pattern.
So take heart if you have lots of white plastic bags. You can upcycle them into some really cute crochet projects by just adding some ribbon, fun fur, or other embellishments. Here is the link to my free clothespin “peg” bag pattern if you’d like to crochet this project. Also you can browse through all my free patterns at this link.
Enjoy and happy green crafting to all!
Tags: clothespin-bag, peg-bag
Jul 12, 2008
[…] bow by attaching a piece of ribbon just above the opening. Tie a bow and trim ribbon ends to match. See this link for […]
Jul 12, 2008
You are absolutely right. Embellishments add so much to the finished project. It can be very plain to begin with, and with a few ‘finishing touches’ it looks stunning. I’m loving your projects. It’s always a pleasure to see a fellow recycler at work.
Jul 13, 2008
That’s really cute. Thanks for all the tips and patterns. I’ve been enjoying your blog for quite some time and am cheering from the sidelines as you finish your chemo.
Jul 14, 2008
This is great! I never would’ve thought this was made of plastic bags. Can you post a how-to? I’d love to make one of these myself and perhaps pass on the method to my readers at http://www.greenyourdecor.com . If you don’t mind, that is.
Jul 14, 2008
@Jennae,
I’m not sure if you read the whole post but the link to the free pattern is found at the bottom of the post. Here is the link if you didn’t see it. It’s a crochet pattern to create this peg bag.
Best of luck to you and I hope you enjoy the pattern.
Jul 15, 2008
Perfect! Mine hangs outside and always rots!
Jul 15, 2008
Very cute, Cindy! One thing I’m considering doing with my white bags is creating a variegated plarn with some of the brown ones. I saw a photo of a purse somewhere (maybe on etsy?) that looked pretty great – almost a faux hounds tooth effect. In fact, I think that may be my next plarn project when I get back in town next week.
Hope you’re feeling well! I’m sending healthy vibes your way regularly.
~Aimee
Jul 15, 2008
What a great idea – these look so lovely that you would never had thought they were made from plastic bags. Lovely site you have here too.
Jul 16, 2008
Those plastic bag bags are quite cool! I reuse plastic bags as much as possible (mostly as trash bags and when transporting stuff via my bicycle) but you’ve taken it to a whole new level and then some. /Have you tried selling any of these bags? Or donating them to an auction for charity? Seems like you could raise a good chunk of change from an eco-minded wealthy person.
Jul 17, 2008
I’m the proud owner of one of Cindy’s clothespin bags and can tell you they are excellent. I have had mine about a year now I guess. I love it!
Jul 18, 2008
The t-shirt yarn is lots of fun. I bought some bigger knitting needles so I can do more with it a little easier. (they are bamboo needles of course haha)
I want to make some plastic bag yarn sometime as well. My in-laws (which we live with right now) are anything but green so there are lots of bags here even though I don’t use them but very rarely now.
Jul 22, 2008
Very good! The ribbon sure makes a difference. Well done!
Aug 12, 2008
Well you could argue that it may not look as aesthetically pleasing as the one you can purchase from shops, at least what matters is that, it can serve its main purpose well.
Aug 17, 2008
[…] links to some interesting crafts projects, too, possibly the most amazing of which is a scheme to crochet the ubiquitous plastic grocery bags into handbags and clothespin bags. The crazy things look pretty good! They’ll presumably last […]
Jul 16, 2017
I would love one of these bags x