Plastic bags are probably one of the most common things that I feel guilty throwing out and end up storing them together in a bigger bag hoping I will need them later. Every time you buy something, they try to give you another plastic bag to add to your collection. Then, only succeeding in making nice homes for cockroaches to hide in.

Do you get to the point that you just have to give up and deal with your collection and sacrifice what to do? Do you have an iron? Never fear! Why don't you fuse them together? You can create a material as thick and big as you want using this process that can be sewn together into whatever you need or want.You can fuse bags together to create other useful things like bags, coats, hats and whatever you can think up that are durable and water resistant.

What you'll need
Plastic bags (thin, flimsy ones work best but you can use slightly thicker ones for decoration)
Parchment paper, freezer paper or plain old copier paper
Iron (and your favorite ironing surface)

Making it

Flatten out the bags and trim the bottom seams and handles off. This allows the bags to be opened up into a larger rectangle of plastic.

Turn the bag inside-out if it has printing on it. Once the ink heats up, it comes off the bag, smears and make a big mess. If the bag has an interesting design that you'd like to preserve, try using a clear plastic bag layered on top of the printed one.

Depending upon your use, usually between 6-8 layers of plastic gives the best results. So, you can either fold your bag twice until it is 8 ply thick, or use three or more bags layered on top of one another. Trying to fuse less than 6 layers often results in little holes forming in the finished piece and a generally weaker material.

Sandwich your plastic bags between the parchment paper. If you need bigger pieces of plastic to work with, overlap the edges a few inches in the layers of bags as you lay them out.

You might want to open a window when you do this to avoid potentially harmful fumes if you are in a small enclosed area.

Next, run a hot iron (we set ours to "Rayon", but you will need to experiment a little to see what works for you) and it is important to keep the iron moving constantly. Make sure to get the edges, and after about 15 seconds, flip it over and iron the opposite side for a few seconds.

Peel a corner of the paper back to see if the plastic is fused together. It should be fairly smooth and "one sheet" to the touch (watch out, it's going to be hot). If the layers are not all melted together, iron it some more.

Peel the parchment paper away from the finished plastic sheet. Voila. Now, you can use this stuff to make a million things. We've made re-usable grocery totes, wallets, and floor cushions; I think its an inexpensive way to make waterproof linings for beach bags and makeup clutches.