Hyvee and Old Navy Recycled

Inspired by this publication....

and this article by Alisa Burke....

and this clutch by Alisa....

I made this clutch out of Hyvee and Old Navy plastic shopping bags!

It was a multi-step process as you might guess, but really, incredibly fun!  It began by fusing the shopping bags together with a hot iron, adding paint (I used ink), scraps of paper, journaling, and lots of stitching.  There were instructions on how to fuse the bags together in the magazine article, but I know you can also find those directions all over the web.

Yes, it's another burned flower!! This time out of plastic bags instead of fabric.  Let me tell you----the plastic was far more flammable than any of the fabric that I've used yet!  I really had to be careful to keep it just close enough to the flame to melt and not burn.

The only supplies I used that were new were the waxed cord that winds around the vintage buttons to close the clutch and the ink I used to paint on the fused bag fabric.

 Alisa also has an Etsy shop with wonderfully bold art pieces!

This project was far more bold and bright than anything I've ever done before but I loved stepping into a different style.  I know there will be more....here's what I could see though as a problem.  I have lots of plastic shopping bags, but most of them are white with just a little coloring from the store name.  I don't get to a lot of different stores.  Will I now take bags from a store instead of saying, "No thanks, I don't need a sack.",  just because I see that they have a plastic bag with a great color or lettering on it?!  Kind of defeats the whole recycling thing, huh?!?!  Will I buy something from a store that I don't need just because I see a great sack to melt?!  I don't think so....but, I'm not sure I'm completely above that!