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Recycled Plastic Bracelet

Cindy5 Comments


I’m excited to share with you all my recycled plastic bracelet that was crocheted from bread bags and plastic packaging material. I just love the colors and look of the bracelet. I added this blue button but then I found this cool pink glittery button and had to try it on the bracelet too. Which one do you like better? I really love them both!

Click to supersize any of the photos

I also want to mention that I used one of those big plastic packages that toilet paper rolls come in to complete this project. It had such pretty blue and pink colors and I was able to cut it into 1/2 inch wide strips and joined the ends just as I do here with my regular plarn (plastic bag yarn) making projects. So roundup some plastic and upcycle yourself this fashion bracelet. I guarantee that yours will be one of a kind and be a definite eco fashion statement when you wear it. Enjoy!

Free Crochet Pattern for Recycled Plastic Bracelet

Materials needed:
One small ball of plastic bread bags cut into 1/2 inches to 5/8 inches strips
Approx. 4-6 bags
1) 1/2 inch button

Hook: N (9 mm) size metal hook
Description: Recycled Plastic Bracelet
Bracelet measures 1-1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long
with wrist opening appox. 8 inches around

Directions:
Ch 21

Another Chapter Closed

Cindy15 Comments

Well today I can say another chapter is closed in my pink journey story. For those readers who may not be familiar with what I dubbed my pink journey, I am referring to my breast cancer fight that began in March 2008. If you’d like to read the blog posts you can find them all here. Last week I finished my one full year of Herceptin that I had to have because I was Her2 positive for my cancer. And today, I had my arm port removed.

My arm port was removed by my surgeon in his procedure’s room at the doctor’s office. I was a little nervous as I have heard from several people that they go in a lot easier than they come out. Some people actually have them removed at the hospital under anesthesia but my surgeon assured me it would be fine to just have it removed in the office with a numbing to the incision area. I think the most painful part was the numbing as he had to stick the needle in several areas and the medicine stung as it went in. Then the port didn’t want to pull out very easily. He had to pull, tug, and do a few other things that I didn’t want to look at so I just looked away. He said I had quite a bit of scar tissue that had developed around the port. After several minutes of pulling, the port and the long plastic tubing all came out. I didn’t feel anything really other than a bit of pressure.

My arm is a little sore where the port was but it feels wonderful to have it gone. I always had to worry about not bumping it and had to be careful not to do anything very strenuous with that arm as not to damage the port or line into my chest. But that chapter after one full year is done. I am feeling almost normal or at least my new normal now. My hair has grown back, my scans are clear, and my doctors tell me that my long term prognosis is excellent. So tonight I take a deep breath, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and now move on with the knowledge that I have victoriously finished this chapter in my pink journey.

Recycled Plastic & Denim Sit-Upon

Cindy19 Comments


This recycled bag project is a request from Moonshadow. She suggested I craft a waterproof sit-upon (SitUpon) like what the Girl Scouts use to sit on. I crocheted this from recycled plastic bags or plarn first. Then I added 4 layers of plastic that I fused onto the back side of the sit-upon to completely waterproof it. I added a handle to the sit-upon so you can carry it around easily too. And as an option I added a layer of recycled denim to soften up the sit-upon and give it a unique look.


Here is my plastic only sit-upon without the denim. This is my basic recycled plastic sit-upon that is crocheted using plastic bags made into plarn and with a fused plastic backing. This fused plastic backing makes the sit-upon waterproof.

Click to supersize photos

Here is the back side of the finished sit-upon and also another version of how you can decorate your finished denim side by adding a denim jean pocket.

I tried to keep this project simple so a young Girl Scout or anyone could make this sit-upon without a bunch of sewing required. You can just glue the hearts on or even hand decorate the denim. Handwriting your name on the denim may be another embellishment a Scout could add. Needless to say, you can decorate as much or as little as you like. I’ve included several different ideas and here is the free crochet pattern and tutorial on making a recycled sit-upon.

Free Sit-Upon Crochet Pattern

Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn – approx. 35-40 plastic grocery bags
Four plastic bags cut into large pieces to cover back for fusing
Waxed paper for the fusing
Option for denim cover: One large piece of recycled denim from an old pair of jeans
appox. 15 inches x 15 inches

Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook

Description: Plastic Sit-Upon with fused plastic backing
Sit-Upon measures 13 inches wide and 13 inches long with 5 inch handle
Option with recycled denim cover measures 14-1/2 inches x 14-1/2 inches

Directions:
Ch 32 […]

Upcycle Plastic Bags into a Water Bottle Holder

Cindy2 Comments

Upcycle your old plastic bags into a water bottle holder. It’s easy to crochet this handy little water bottle holder from recycled plastic bags and of course it’s an excellent eco-friendly green craft idea. First you make your plarn or plastic bag yarn as shown here.

The base of this holder is the same as my can cozy project that I crocheted recently. I just added another row on the cozy and then crocheted the strap to finish off the water bottle holder. This holder is designed with a 3″ round bottom and holds either a small water bottle or reusable beverage container.

Just click on the green more button to view the free crochet pattern for this green crafting project.

Happy Earth Day

Cindy2 Comments

April 22 is Earth Day and the kickoff of the beginning of the Green Generation Campaign over at Blogger’s Unite. Let’s all celebrate this great day by Recycling, Reusing, or Repurposing. These are my favorite three Rs. I try very hard to live by them and while nobody is perfect, maybe today we can really dedicate ourselves to the cause. Anyone who reads this site on a consistent bases knows that it’s a crafting site which uses recycled materials most of the time. Yes I love to crochet and at times share projects that aren’t necessarily recycled or green but are fun and frugal. That’s the joy of crafting. It’s the use of ones spare time to create something special that isn’t available at any retail store.

But maybe you aren’t a crafter and want to recycle all those old vcr or cassette tapes. Check out this link to GreenDisk and you can choose to use your own box (20 lbs or less) and it costs only $6.95 for the Technotrash Pack-IT. Put all your tapes in there and ship them off. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to recycle those old tapes and save them from the landfill.

If you are a crafter, then consider making your own plarn and crochet something wonderful from trash. You can check out all my free patterns here. I offer everything from grocery tote bags made from plastic bags to potholders and purses created from reused denim jeans to clutches crocheted from repurposed cassette tapes.


So on this Earth Day 2009, please enjoy our Earth and remember the three Rs. Recycling, Reusing, and Repurposing. It’s a great way to preserve this wonderful Earth that we all love and have a great time green crafting too!