A Little More Plarn

If one is really interested,
there are many things
made of plastic bag yarn
to view on the internet.

I made the small pouch
with blue yarn & plarn
as a camera protector.

I switched to just yarn
on the top part
so it would  be easier
to close.

That is a button
used as a closure.

This bag is all plastic.

I meant to make it bigger,

but I like it, anyway.   :)

Playing With Trash - Plarn

You know what "plarn" is, right?
I just found out about this a couple of
years ago.
It's plastic, used as yarn, as far as
I have figured it out.

I know there is more than
one way to make plarn.
You can look it up on the internet.
I did.
Here is the method I use.

Take one plastic bag.

Flatten the bag out.

Cut away the parts you won't use.
I do this by folding the bag over
so I won't have so far to cut.

Cut off the bottom (where it is stiff.)

Cut off the handles so that which remains

is a fairly even tube, like this.

Flatten out the tube and fold it over
somewhat evenly.
Smooth it out.

Beginning at the edge where the folds
are inside each other,
cut in fairly even strips toward
the edge where
 the folds are on top of each other.

STOP SHORT OF CUTTING
THROUGH THOSE TWO FOLDS.

It will look something like this.

(You can fold the top layer
down so that you cut right
through it, saving the next
step, but this way is easier
to show in a photograph.)

Open it out and cut through
ONE SIDE of the bag, like this.

(You can just cut from one side
 of the tube to the other.  I find
it easier to fold it.)

Now, this is the part
I mess up, now and then:
On the other side,
cut into the first row from the
outside, starting your
continuous strip.

It will not look right,
but it's plastic - the strip
will be straight enough
to work with.
You can probably do a better
job than I on all this cutting.

Drop down and do the same on each row.
If you goof up, remember this
was just going to be recycled... :)

One grocery bag makes
a nice little pile of plarn.

I like to roll mine up

into a loose ball.

Then I plop it into a container
with some other plarn balls,
where they do NOT stay
all nice and tidy.

I have used the plarn alone
and combined with other yarn.

For this small bag  I used
some purple and some red
acrylic Red Heart yarn.

It actually stands fairly well.

This is crochet.
I tried knitting with
the plarn alone.

I didn't like it

Perhaps I shall have
to try knitting with the
combination.

Perhaps not.  :)

More Recycled Cone Trees

We only buy a newspaper
once in a while.
This is one of those free
papers from the supermarket.
Does everybody have those?

I got very technical about drawing
circles on my paper.

They got cut out

then cut in half

and in half, again.
I was very technical about
bisecting my circles, too!
I folded them in half.

A little (or a lot) of glue.

and a little fiddling to get the sides
glued together just right (not)

and I soon had a small forest!
If I hadn't been so lazy,
I could have made different sizes. :)

Wool, I Shouldn't be Surprised

I has been a while since I
worked with wool, but
the colder weather inspired
another dive into those boxes.

Last Spring I found quite a few
wool sweaters at Salvation Army
priced at two for a dollar.

I bought a cart full!

One is for me.

Dad took three, I think.

Some may help keep
Uncle Si and/or my son
warm, this winter.

Two I unravelled to have
the yarn to reuse.

I cut others apart at the
seams to shrink them
and see what I could do
with them.

They all shrink differently.

I shouldn't be surprised.

I cut some that are close to the same weight into six inch squares.  That way I can get two squares from one 
sleeve.  The backs and fronts yield three or more squares and leave a lot of waste.  I'm not sure this was the
best way to handle this material.

I am not surprised.
This was an experiment, after all.

 Sewing four squares together, lapping about a half inch seam, yielded an eleven and a half inch square.

Allowing for half inch seams, a blanket eighty eight inches
square would take 64 four piece squares
or the equivalent.

64 X 4 = 256 six inch squares.

I don't have enough sweaters.

Considering that some are very heavy weight
and some are quite light, I don't have nearly
enough sweaters.

This project is not going to be as fast, easy or 
beautiful as I pictured.

I shouldn't be surprised. :)

To see my earlier experimentation
with wool,
look here, here, here, here, here or here.
 Fulling/Felting is a short explanation.

Plastic Frames in Progress

I enjoyed my 

big cheap plastic frame re-do 

so much that I wanted to keep going.

Now, here's a pair of plastic frames
that would not have earned a
second glance from me.
I don't care for the images.
I don't care for the color of the frames,
though they are better than the shiny one.

Sanded
& ready to paint

Maybe not the best way to
set these up for spray painting...

...because of the uneven application
of the paint.

I tried to show
how bad it looked after it dried.

I cut some twigs and elevated
the frames.
That worked a little better.

Not perfect, but I like them.

Possibilities include old lace,

a subtly colored pattern

or my naive flowers.

These will not hang where I meant to put them.

I misjudged the space.

Well, anyway, I had fun. 

The Big Cheap Oval Plastic Frame

Why on Earth would I buy
this shiny gold plastic picture frame?

The picture is sweet,
but it doesn't have much to
do with our household.

The frame is a bit shabby,
but this shiny finish and shabby
just don't do it for me.

It may be why I only had to pay
two dollars and eighty-five cents.

Once I had taken it apart I could
see that someone had taken

care of it very carefully...
I mean, how many times had this
picture been dropped, banged
or scraped?
I'm not taking a guess.

So, there it was.

I wanted to try a transformation.
I did not want to spend much money
in case I decided to toss the whole mess.

I went to WalMart and got some supplies.
I used my sanding sponge to remove the
shiny finish on the frame.
I like it better, already.

Now, I can not tell you if this is the
layer of plastic primer I sprayed on there
or the first layer of flat grey.

Well, I love the way it came out!
It's not perfect, but I can live with it.

Now what to put in my grey oval frame...
Here's a piece of fabric I like.

Here is a hastily cut and glued
paper motto.

Any suggestions for stuff to frame? :)