NOTE: Feel free to come up with your own color combo from whatever you have available in the stash of bags lurking under your kitchen sink! Some ideas might be a navy blue Gap bag, a green Barnes and Noble bag, or the yellow bag your phone book was delivered in.
» Templates available online at craftzine. com/09/fusedplastic
Each project will use 4 plastic shopping bags fused into 1 large sheet. To create each project as shown, use 3 Target bags and 1 dark-colored bag, such as the brown Hershey’s bag shown in Figure A on the following page.
2. OPEN AND LAYER YOUR BAGS.
With your hands, smooth out one bag at a time onto a work surface. Trim off the handles, cutting across the top of the bag with scissors. Next, trim off ¼" along the bottom of the bag, opening up the pleats. Make 1 straight cut from the top edge of the bag to the bottom to create 1 large, single-layer rectangle. Repeat with the other 3 bags.
Layer all 4 bags, one on top of another. I placed the brown bag on the bottom and layered the print bags on top, arranging the Target prints to create an all-over pattern.
3. PROTECT YOUR EQUIPMENT. Cover your ironing board with a sheet of parchment paper a few inches longer than your stack of cut plastic bags, about 42" long. Place the layered plastic bags on top, then cover them with another sheet of parchment. The bags will probably be a few inches wider than the parchment, so be sure to keep the plastic completely sandwiched between the paper when you’re fusing it, by repositioning them both as needed.
4. IRON YOUR BAGS.
Before getting started, be sure your workspace is well ventilated. Some plastics may give off an odor, although I haven’t experienced a problem with this.
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