Are you sick of buying storage and freezer bags?
1. Take four clean, thin shopping bags and cut off the bottom and the handles and turn inside out.
2. Stack so that you have a large rectangle 8 layers thick and sandwich between two large pieces of paper and iron for about 30 seconds. (Experience will tell you the right setting for your iron. Mine is on RAYON.)
4. Cool one minute. If you peek too soon, it will shrivel on you. The plastic sticks to a the paper a bit and is forced to hold it’s shape as it cools. Flip.
5. Repeat step 4 until completely fused. No layers. One piece of plastic. (See this Etsy workshop for safety issues and another explanation.)
7. Cut to desired size. I prefer octagons or circles for neatness.
7b. Oh, and if you’re concerned about the inks, use only the backs, like so:
8. Put a little piece of velcro on the inside top, and a longer piece on the outside bottom.
Use CHEAP sticky velcro or non-sticky-at-all velcro. (The ‘good’ sticky stuff didn’t stay worth JACK, and the adhesives gummed up my sewing machine.)
9. Fill with food and close.
10. Squeal with glee.
Now, some folks might be saying, “But, Ivory, I’m not near as gross as you. I hate fumes and irons and I’m just not buying that this is safe.”
No problem. Take another look at the above pics. See that clear one full of PB playdoh at the bottom? Here we go….
Reusable Wraps from PEVA Shower Curtains
1. Buy 7$ PEVA shower curtain from discount store. (1.79 at IKEA, thank you Nicole!)
2. Cut in preferred sizes. And hand wash ’em.
You can get 25+ (1ft x 1ft) wraps from a standard curtain. But wait till you’ve used a few before you commit to a size.
3. Put same cheap velcro on inside top and outside bottom.
4. Load, wrap, squeal.
NOW, these are not as durable as the others. I’m not thinking they’ll last very long in a school lunch. I’m trying it out, though. BUT, they make FANTASTIC fridge wraps. See through!
Enjoy!
Ivory
P.S. Come back on Tuesday and I’ll show you how to make a NO-SEW rag rug. (Mine is old t-shirts, but any fabric will work…socks, sheets, towels, etc.)
P.P.S.: Try these Uline plastic bag supplies for organizing your crafts
Your recycled fused plastic sandwich and snack bags are wonderful. I love the idea. Keep those fantastic eco-friendly projects coming. I stumbled and reviewed too.
That is awsome! I will be making some of these for mine and my husbands lunch. I can’t wait for the no swe rag rug. I am a very bad sewer and I need some new rugs.
I love the concept and the idea of recycling something, but I have some concerns about using bags with ink because often the ink has lead, mercury, hex chromium or cadmium in it. Not to be a party pooper – although it probably sounds like that.
While I think 19 US states have laws against the intentional addition of such heavy metals to packaging materials, the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse found that more than 16% of the bags tested exceeded the screening threshold – the average lead concentration in failed bags was 1,740 ppm. Lead was most often found in plastic bags bags, although mercury and chromium were also detected in some samples. So I would be concerned using any bags with inked logos/information.
Also, if you had to buy something new to make them – like a EVA shower curtain (of course don’t use vinyl), it would be better to get organic natural fiber.
Rag rugs have been on my wish to do list for sometime now. How do you find all the time for all these projects?!
I hear you on the ink. If there’s a concern, I’d recommend just using the back of the bags and recycling the fronts. I was going to do a few no-ink versions for folks who aren’t as reckless ink-wise as me. I’ll get right on that this evening.
Stephanie!
I do it by ignoring all of my other responsibilities. HA!
great ideas! Plus you can get those PEVA clear shower curtains for only $!.79 at Ikea!!
Are these shower curtins food safe??
YEP. It’s the right kind of plastic.
This is a wonderful idea. Not only cheap or free, think of the cupboard space saved! These little things will take up a fraction of the space!
@Kristina–I think you and I are the only ones that love these!
I have tree-huggin’ friends (wink – luv y’all) who accuse me of goin’ green on ’em. No such luck. I’m just cheap! Keep the idearz a’comin’!
This really is a great idea.
I think if you are concerned about inks though this is probably not a project for you, because even the backs of the bags would have been stacked onto the front of another bag, pressing the ink against it.
However, after a good wash and all the wear that the bag has been through, I don’t think that temporarily storing food in these homemade satchels would really be harmful, or would allow mercury to seep into your food.
I like this idea except I’ve started using re-useable shopping bags only. I actually sell Tupperware and it’s very eco-friendly. I use it instead of zipper baggies and I have to say that my freezer is cleaner and my fridge smells better than it ever has before! This might be better for kids, but Tupperware has pretty good sales on the small size containers and I always remember my ‘ziplock squished’ sandwich from when I was a kid and I prefer the plastic boxed ones! (I do use the plastic shopping bags to send stuff to my mom and back via my brother though, he’s 18 and I think he’d loose his underpants too if he didn’t parade through the house without pants so often! LOL)
I also was wondering if the shower curtains food safe?? That’s how I came to this site, doing a search to see if they were food safe. I know its the right kind of plastic, but wondering if they are okay with food.
I’d guess if nothing else was in the shower curtains other then PEVA, then it should be okay.
Me, too! I arrived at this site looking for substantial information on the food-safety value of PEVA shower curtains. I understand that they are chlorine free, but read earlier today that they contain a host of other chemicals related to Formamide, which is considered toxic.
If PEVA shower curtains are food-safe, and acknowledged so by a reputable health awareness site or the manufacturer, itself, then I would much prefer making food wraps out of this material, as some PEVA shower curtains are machine washable for great convenience.
love your work and recycle phylosophy
Bea