Monday, June 16, 2008

Plastic-stravaganza!!!

Ahhhhhh! It wasn't very long ago that I got that really great deal on cereal. You know, the one where I bought about 40 boxes........twice!!

Surprisingly, it doesn't take us very long to eat that much cereal!!! It seemed like we were going through 10 boxes a week, maybe more, and I started having guilt. Guilt for being such a consumer, for creating so many consumers, and for creating so much garbage! So, I started saving them. I saved the boxes, and the plastic liners too....not sure what I was going to do with it all.
Photojojo gave me the idea, and the cool video tutorial, of how to make scrap paper journals. She uses pictures for the outside covers...I used cereal boxes!!! My kids love having their own notebooks that they can use as they please. I have made TONS of these with DH's scrap paper from work. FREE FUN FOR EVERYONE!!
The plastic liners have been taunting me for weeks...sitting there in the drawer...wasting precious kitchen storage space and stuff....so, I decided that this is the week that I finally do something about them, and the hundreds of plastic grocery bags that I have stuffed into my little recycle bag.

This first project uses fused plastic as the main fabric. It is really easy to do too. You don't have to use cereal bag like I have, you can use the grocery bags. I think you'll probably have to use more layers though. Etsy has a good fusing tutorial here.

These are the little lovelies I created last night. They are tea light lanterns/covers, or whatever you want to call them.
Materials: plastic to fuse, wax paper, embellishments, glue gun, iron and ironing board.




Step 1- get your liner, and open all of the sealed ends. Lay it out flat, then fold it in half.
Step 2- Decide what you are going to fuse inside the plastic. I cut out a design from some fabric. you can also use paper.
Step 3- Fold your plastic in half again sandwiching your embellishment between layers. Lay sandwich on waxed paper, then cover with waxed paper.
Step 4- Fuse with hot iron. This takes less time than you think, so keep checking.
Step 5- Let it cool for a few seconds, then take waxed paper off. I have found that if you remove it while it is still warm it comes off better.

Step 6- decide what shape you want it to be. It creases pretty well when you make squares. Hot glue the seams together, put a tea light in it, and you are done!!


I think they turned out pretty cool!

More nifty plastcreations tomorrow!

9 comments:

Amy said...

Oh what a fun little idea! I have seen the bags made from...bags...lol that sounds dunny but you know what i mean. This is a cute idea too!

Melanie said...

Very clever! You could use this idea for any holiday party or event.

Kathi D said...

What great projects! The notebooks are super cool--I could see those selling in cute little boutiques (for way too much money!).

queen of everything said...

what a crafty woman you are. neat ideas.

Abbey said...

I will never throw away another cereal box or the plastic liner!!! That is freakin' amazing!!

lera said...

I remember seeing your journals before and have been saving cereal boxes. Thanks for the inspiration.

Janet McKinney said...

OK - you have motivated me to investigate this!!

Janet McKinney

Blakely said...

What a great idea!

HellesBelles said...

I learned that parchment paper works even better than wax cuz the parchment doesn't stick to the plastic. Aren't these fun tho? I love the votives- all I've made so far were bracelets and bags