~ Austin Clean Sweep - Plastic Bag Art ~

I collaborated with Austin Green Art and several other people to make little booklets of plastic bag projects. They were handed out at the Austin Clean Sweep. Here is an online version:

http://austingreenart.org/PlasticBagProjects-Book-01.pdf

Here are a few more plastic bag projects I found online that didn't make it into the final book:




Unfortunately I was out of town this past week and wasn't able to make it to the Austin Clean Sweep. It looks like it was a great time though. I got to display my plastic bag crochet projects, there was interactive plastic bag art, Virginia was there with her bag-o-matic kits, and there were hands on tutorials about fusing plastic bags. Here are some pictures:

~ Colorful Plastic Bag Shopping Bag with Pockets ~

Shopping Bag with Pockets
Originally uploaded by Cristen Rene

~ Plastic Bag Shopping Bag ~

Look at all the groceries this bag holds!

~ New Creations - Not Made From Plastic Bags, But Still Fun ~

Dog Sweater (made from recycled yarn)





Floor Rug (made from recycled ribbon scraps)





Wall Hanging or Trivet (made from recycled magazines, newspapers, and phone books)

~ Updates ~

*I started an account with Etsy - an online platform for buying and selling handmade things.
Here is my online store: http://cristencrochet.etsy.com

*Natalie, the editor of Craftzine posted a podcast of me at the Austin MakerFaire. Check it Out

~ Plastic Bag Backpacks ~

plastic bag backpacks
Originally uploaded by Cristen Rene

~ Plastic Bag Hats ~

Plastic Bag Hat
Originally uploaded by Cristen Rene

~ Preparing Plastic Bags for Crocheting ~

Preparing plastic bags is pretty simple.

Start with a plastic bag.


Fold it in half.


Fold it in half several more times.


Cut the handles off.


Cut the bottom off.


Cut the bag into about one-inch strips.


You should end up with about 10 pieces per bag.


Unfold 2 pieces and loop them together.






Loop all the bag pieces together to form a chain.


Roll the plastic bag chain into a ball.


I typically wait until I have a lot of bags. Then I cut them all up and end up with a crazy mess like this. Then I roll this mess into several large balls.

~ Other (non plastic bag) Stuff I Crochet ~

I like finding yarn at garage sales and thrift stores. I especially like really old yarn that was probably sitting in some old lady's closet for several decades. It makes me happy that someone probably bought the yarn with a specific project in mind, never got around to doing it (but thought they would, so kept it around forever just in case), finally got rid of the yarn, and now I'm able to put it to good use.
Here are some things I made with this yarn:

~ Plastic Bag Koosies ~

~ Plastic Bag Backpacks ~

White Bags -- HEB
Brown Bags -- Fiesta, Central Market, Whole Foods, and Wheatsville



Brown bags -- HEB
Green bags -- HEB in Mexico
Yellow and Blue bags -- Various places in Mexico



White Bags -- HEB and various other stores
Colored Bags -- various gift bags


Colored Bags -- collected on the streets of Monterrey and Tampico
Yellow bottom -- Best Buy and American Statesman


A little bit of everything