According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. I've been working on cutting back on the amount of plastic bags we use in our household but didn't quite know what to do with the huge amount we had stored up in the laundry room. So, I decided to check the internet.

I found all sorts of interesting ways to repurpose and reuse those bags. When my friend J forwarded me a tutorial on fusing plastic bags to create a plastic fabric, I was intrigued. I attempted to melt bags as the tutorial mentioned. I failed. I tried again. I failed again. I googled other methods and found that most people who have tried either manage it easily or get incredibly frustrated. I was leaning toward the later.

Finally I figured out it was much easier to fuse Target bags than a Walmart or Meijer bag. They are slightly thicker and a different consistency. Anywho, I managed to get them fused together and sewed up a tote bag.

This process started about 2 months ago. During that time, while shopping at Target, I noticed they are selling recycled Target bag tote bags for $1.99. While I'm not sure it was worth the time and effort to fuse and make my own, I can, at the least, say I've done it! My bag is large enough to hold a 12x12 scrapbook.