Plastic craft

I tried out a new craft today. I had seen this craft idea on the web and have been wanting to try it. It's called Fusing Plastic bags. A really good way to use up some of your plastic grocery bags and make them into something useful. I decided to make my mother a coupon holder for her purse. The one she was using was pretty bad, but then a paper envelope will only last so long. It was fun, easy and a quick craft. I will be making more of these I am sure.

Materials needed:
Plastic bags
paper big enough to fit under and over the plastic while ironing ( I used some plain color wrapping paper I had on hand)
Iron and Ironing board
sewing machine
velcro
You need any type of plastic bag or garbage bag you have on hand. You need at least 6 pieces to make it sturdy enough. 8 pieces is about the most you want to use because you want to make sure it will fuse together with the iron. I guesstimated the size piece I should cut based on the size I wanted to make the coupon holder. You can always trim it up later if to big.I made this coupon holder from a clear garbage bag. I cut 7 pieces of plastic from the bag and layered 6 of them one on top of another. I placed them on top of the paper that I placed on my ironing board. Preheat your iron to your setting for rayon, or med heat. I then placed another piece of paper on top of plastic. DO NOT IRON DIRECTLY ON PLASTIC. Do make sure you have a fan going or a window open while ironing as with all plactics there is some fumes when heated. Keep your iron moving back and forth and top to bottom for at least 10 sec on each pass. Press down firmly, don't let iron set to long in one spot or you will get dimples from your steam holes. You must iron both sides of the plastic. I iron each side about 10 min total. You can test to see if the plastic is fused together by pulling lightly on the edges. If not fused, just cover with paper again and iron again.

I did try to put some plastic shred (the kind you use in gift baskets) between a layer but all it did was melt and I had to tear all that off. So I tried putting some small sequins I had on hand. I sprinkled a few on the fused plastic and then layed another layer of plastic on top and then covered it with paper and ironed that layer down. Again test to make sure it is sealed.
I then trimmed up some of the uneven edges and folded it up where I wanted to form a pocket for the coupons to go into. I also decided to fold over the top edge of the pocket and flap and then stitch down to make it a little stiffer edge. Then just use a zigzag stitch all around to make your holder.I had some stick on velcro squares to use for closure. You could glue them down, or use a type where you sew it on. That part is up to you on how you want to close this.

My mother loved her new coupon holder. I showed this to my sister and her best friend Terri who is visiting this week and they both loved it and as a matter of fact Terri asked me if she could commission me to make 5 more for her to give as presents. I told her sure not a problem. So looks like I will be making more sooner then I thought. She is only going to be in town till the end of the week. So I need to get busy in next couple of days and get them made.

This was a fun and easy craft to make. And a good way to recycle some of those multiplying plastic bags we all have around. There are so many colors of bags out there, and you can make whatever style or color you want. You can make these as big or as small as you want. Just experiment to your hearts content. These are basically free bags to use in whatever way you want.

I hope you were able to follow my directions. I didn't take pictures of me ironing or folding edges or even sewing, but I think you will be able to understand what I was trying to explain.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and take time to enjoy yourself and your family. :)