Recycling trash into treasures

Local City officials are working to ban plastic bags in supermarkets and grocery stores. For obvious reasons. Central Oregon is home to Lakes, Rivers, Ponds, and Natural Springs. We are sitting atop volcanoes and glaciers. We are in the heart of the wild world of nature, and the animals who vastly outnumber us, depend on us to keep plastic out of their food and water, and to keep our world contained.

In an effort to save our environment, a woman in Bend, Or, has started her own business, in just the last year, it has taken off. Her name is Sara, and she is the proud owner of Sara Bella Upcycle. She uses a studio in a very eco-conscious part of town to produce beautiful works of plastic art. Check out her site (linked above, just click on the business name) and see the videos that she has in turn linked to.

(Image courtesy of Sara Bella Upcycle, Trench Coat made ENTIRELY of recycled plastic snack packaging)

Finding inspiration from this, I decided to give it a go... not so terribly successful, but it was a fun experience. Also, my sewing machine doesn't like un-lubricated plastic. Just sayin'.

This is my attempt at a basic bag. Not so good with the dimensions, but it turned out okay. Those flowers, yeah, I cut those from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge and layered them in the plastic before I melt-fused it. It will hold a bottle of wine, or a skein of yarn and some needles.

You wanna try it? Check out this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf7alw4RN5c&feature=related