I mentioned earlier that Meghan had a recycle project and presentation to work on for her social studies class. As soon as she mentioned the words “recycle” and “crafts” in the same sentence, my brain went on creative hyperdrive! She and I were giddy with excitement over the concept of repurposing 3 bags from other materials. We spent all weekend with our new sewing machines and made the coolest things! I got to try out a few things I’ve been wanting to try . . . and Lolly got to work on her sewing skills. A win-win for both of us.
Here is project #1: Our Betz White 2-necktie water bottle holder. We actually made two of these because they were so cute, fast and simple! We bought our neckties at Goodwill for $1.50 apiece, but we would have raided Dad’s closet if we hadn’t been able to find any!
The next project we made was a felted sweater purse. I had made these before, and the only problem we had with this one was that the wool sweater I had on-hand was a turtle-neck rather than a crew-neck . . . which somehow forced the handles of the bag to be skinnier than the others I’ve made. To make these, you basically cut off the sleeves and the neckline of the felted sweater (to make a tank top-looking garment), line up the side seams, and sew along the bottom. Easy peasy. The result:
Our final bag was the one that was probably the most fun and “science experiment” of the bunch. We made a lunch bag out of Fused Plastic Bags. It was fun to experiment with different types of plastic bags to see which ones fuse the best. Thankfully (because I had so many of them!) the Target bags fused together PERFECTLY! They are so cute, too! If you try this project, make sure to work in a well-ventilated area, because melting plastic is kind of smelly. We worked in the garage and smell was not a problem. We found that fusing 6 layers of bags worked very well. The product was definitely sturdy, but not too think to sew through without difficulty. To keep the project fairly simple, we took our fused plastic and made a simple sack . . . but we could have added handles or a closure to make the bag even more useful. Here’s our cool new lunch bag:
Meg is giving her oral report today, and I wish I were there to hear her present it to her class. Her enthusiasm is apparent, and you can tell that she is proud of the items she made. I’m quite proud of her, as well, for being willing to tackle this project with her craft-crazed Momma! Good luck today, Lolly!
Can you believe it? Seconds before he was waving . . . and seconds after he was reaching out to his fans. But at the split second I snapped this photo, he looked like he was just taking it all in. Can you imagine?? Leaving home months ago as a virtual nobody, and returning home to find the whole city there to see you?? Crazy.
