spinning a plarn*, crochet

*PLARN= plastic yarn

So, I’ve never really crochet(ed) before, but being a plastic-bag collector as I am, and following the beautiful bags and baskets that one talented Israeli artist, Arbel Eger, is creating, made me try to crochet my very own little basket. I looked online for some simple instructions, and they are out there, in cyberspace.

Here’s the first result:

first plarn crochet

I was very happy and excited with what seemed to look like an actual basket, and even gave it as a gift. My friend looked pleased (she either liked it, or she was really kind to me), and she’ll be using it to collect her own plastic bags from now on.

Encouraged, I have decided to ride again on the waves of success, and created yet another basket to be given as a gift. This time I used more colors, and here it is:

another crocheted basket

I am now hooked :). be prepared for some more photos.

For instructions on how to make PLARN, here a link to Arbel’s blog. It’s in Hebrew, but the great photo tutorial explains it all, loud and clear.

Any questions? remarks? I’d be happy to address them.

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unique party decoration diy

floating gracefully

So we had a party coming up. A BIG party. We needed to decorate a large hall. I schlepped around some party stores that sell a tiny decorative item for at least $2. For a larger item, the price blows up like crazy. I wasn’t ready to spend a lot of money, though I must admit that I have bought some decorations. Call it party fear factor.

Making it a family project, we sat around the table and started to prepare some decorations. we had fun and laughs  making them. Whether or not they’re cool, they sure are original. I call it: the jellyfish decor. That’s what they remind me of.

jellyfish decor

wait, don’t throw: colorful plastic bags, plastic bottle (such as your empty organic apple juice).

to do:

• Flatten the plastic bag, then cut off the top to remove the handles, and the bottom to remove the closed end. Fold the bag lengthwise several times,  then cut strips (between an inch to 2 inches wide) thus creating plastic rings.

putting my brother to work into cutting plastic rings. he's good.

• now that we have many colorful rings, we’ll take our empty, clean and dry plastic bottle and cut it into… aha… more plastic rings. On second thought, it’s more like slicing the bottle, like so:

plastic slices. Use a utility knife or scissors

• now, we need to tie the plastic bag rings onto the plastic circle we created. Wrap the ring around the circle and pull out through the ring itself. Nothing like a picture to demonstrate:

wind plastic rings around plastic circle

• cover the whole circle with many colorful, dangling rings, till it looks like- a jellyfish when you play around with it. You then attach a string to two sides of the circle, to be able to hang it high up on the ceiling. Make many jellyfish to brighten up any party.
• and…we also managed to create yet another cool colorful chain from the plastic bag left-overs- by tying them to one another, and tying balloons on.

balloon chain

did I mention recycle?

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weave it whimsy diy

recycle plastic bags and milk cartons into baskets

So… what shall we start with?

Well, I am celebrating Shavuot, which is known to be one of the oldest holidays in Judaism. On this holiday, harvest of the first grains is being celebrated with songs and dances, remembering the old times when the people went up to Jerusalem, to the Temple, bringing with them gifts and offerings of the first fruits, veggies and flowers. Today, among other customs, we fill nice little baskets with goodies, and decorate both the baskets and the kids that carry them.

My little league dived happily into our little basket project while maintaining the opportunity of keeping green.

Wait, don’t throw:

• those milk cartons, or plastic jugs, or those cubic tissue boxes;
• grocery plastic bags that come in all those cool colors.

After the containers are empty, clean and well dry, cut their top, and then cut all four side panels into strips, going all the way down to the base, only make sure that eventually, you have an odd number of strips.

Cut your colorful plastic bags into many long, thin strips, about 1 inch wide.

Knot string to string in a way that eventually produces one long, multi-colored “thread” for your weaving.

Now you can start weaving from the bottom of the container and up.

weaving those plastic bags

Start by knotting the “thread” around one of the carton stripes at the bottom, and then around the carton, weaving the thread in a consistent manner, first under the carton strip, and then over the next strip, under the next one, and over the next one, producing a pattern of warp and woof.

You can tie a knot at the end just around one of the strips. For one of the baskets (shown above), the ends of the strips are folded outwards. For another basket, we embedded plastic beads to make it even more happier.

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