Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Lid Bottom Bags

Earlier this month I showed you how I recycle and reinvent plastic cups and plastic containers by turning them into awesome spiral notebooks. Since doing the blog post, I have received an overwhelming amount of emails. Thank you to everyone for the very nice comments and compliments.

Now the real question everyone wants to know - what did I do with the lids? Hmmmm, let's just say what was up is now down...... These lids are now the bottom to my newest Market Bag/Tote Line which I call 'Lid Bottom Totes'.

I came up with the idea to use the lids as the bottom while thinking of something very unique and different to create for a contest that Craftsters.org was hosting - 'Reusable Shopping Bag' Challenge . It had to be unlike something I've done in the past, something extraordinary.

So one day I just did a complete walk through of my house and garage and ended up in my kitchen with no ideas ... not even a thought. Then it hit me, LITERALLY, when I opened a cabinet door and plastic lids flew out from having too many of them in there.


While creating this, it also made me think about those bags that have been discarded over the years or still sitting in the back of closets. The bottoms are unsightly from constantly putting it on the ground making it too embarassing to take out in public.

Even yet, how many times lipstick has melted or something else spilled out staining the inside bottom.



But I wasn't going to limit myself to just the round lids, I discovered that my same technique would work just as well on oval lids too.
Thanks for letting me share this challenge with you.
I would like to know how you would have reinvented the lids??

4 comments:

  1. Hello,

    My name is Daniela and I'm contacting you on behalf of HandbagLessons.com.

    We visited your blog and your Etsy Shop and noticed you have downloadable patterns for sale at your page on Etsy and also on http://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/authors/1039494667.
    We found your work fantastic! The idea of plastic recycling is amazing, your handbag designs look great! My favorite on is the "Eco Friendly Grab & Go Reusable Plarn Market Bag". What a nice work your are doing!

    We are currently selecting a very exclusive group of handmade handbag designers to become "Beta Testers" at our site and would like to extend this special invitation to you.

    HandbagLessons.com is a brand new online community, still in Beta testing Phase, and is the sister site to the already well-established and successful Jewelrylessons.com and ClayLessons.com, both created by Eazy Communities.

    The site will act as a marketplace for Handbag Tutorials & E-Patterns, where Designers can post E-Patterns for sale, share their knowledge and earn income.

    By joining early as a Beta Tester and learning the ropes of how to navigate the site, you gain advantage over other designers who join later. Please visit us at www.HandbagLessons.com to see how we work: our site is very interactive and user-friendly.

    NOTE: Since we do not require exclusivity, you can post Tutorials and E-Patterns you might already have on your own website or others.

    We hope you will accept our invitation and looking forward to hearing back from you!
    Sincerely,

    Daniela Almeida
    www.HandbagLessons.com
    Eazy Communities

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  2. Impressive...as always! I love the lids made into durable purse bottoms! Why didn't i think of that LOL. I save every lid..I can...out of dumpsters, and garbage cans. I love all the plastics...which I too, use in my art garments for fashion shows and galleries. I have always appreciated your input on flickr in my group here:

    PET Bottle and other Plastics Recycled Creativity
    http://www.flickr.com/groups/1447554@N22/

    And I know just how grateful people are to your sharing of these wonderful ideas !



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