We all know those plastic bags that we get from the grocery store that we have no idea what to do with. And we feel guilty for just throwing them away so we may just stash them somewhere till we find somewhere to put them, although I am here to tell you there is something you can do with those bags just stacking up in your pantry. So I'm going to show you how to make a simple plastic bag mat. And this mat can be used for many things, not just one thing. And depending on what you need it for, it can be really helpful in different ways.

So for this project you simply need 3 things

Some sort of cutting tool either scissors or a rotary cutter
You will need plastic bags
And last thing is a big crochet hook that can crochet the bags depending on your preference of size for these plastic bags and if you don't have a big enough hook you can easily find on Amazon

And without further ado let's get started...

Step 1: Folding Your Bag

So in order to make Plarn (plastic yarn) your going to need to do a little folding and cutting. So the first thing you need to do is stack from 1-4 plastic bags straight on top of each other. Then your going to fold one side into the middle, then fold the other side all the way. And after this you should end up with something that looks like what my last picture looks like. And with this plastic yarn mat nothing has to be perfect, when your folding or cutting it really doesn't matter how perfect it looks, because you can't really tell once it is all crocheted together.

Step 2: Cutting

So now that you have your folded plastic bags you are going to cut the two ends. And essentially what this will do is cut the seam part off and the handles of the plastic bag. Now you cut it straight down the middle. And now that you have two pieces you cut each of the two pieces in half so now you have four pieces. And once you do this you can unfold it and find something that looks like a big loop.

Step 3: Plarn

Now to actually make the yarn you first take two loops and put one through the other making it look like a T.

Step 4: Plarn

Now your going to stick your hand through the left side of the loop that was going vertical, then reach your hand over the bag and grab the other side and pull it through the side that your hand is on. Then once you have pulled it through just keep pulling it to make the knot tighter. Although, make sure you do not pull two tight because that can make the plastic bag rip. And if this does happen you just need to undo the knot and take the ripped bag out and try again.

Step 5: Crochet

And now you just need to crochet it. And yes, you just crochet it like you normally would, as if it was yarn. And depending on the size you want it is how many plastic bags you need. for this project I made a medium size one which used quite a bit of plastic bags. About 5 months of saving them, so the bigger the mat you want the more bags you will need. And a positive about these mats, is that I believe you can donate them somewhere, where they can give them to people that don't have beds, so that they can have something cushy to sleep on.

Step 6: Different Things to Use It For

This mat can be used for a variety of different things such as a dog mat, chair cushion, something to place things on, sleeping mat, as well as just something to sit on while you outside and you want to soak in the sun. And these are not all the possible things you can use it for. There is so much you can use these for and they can also be great gifts.