Reuse ~ Repurpose: Week 8

Whenever I get a bag of small potatoes, or bag of lemons, and I see the plastic mesh it comes in, I think, "Oooh, what a great texture!" I save these bags, as well as any kind of porous packaging that might make a good background on a journal page, art card or something else you want to layer up.

Netting from fruit bags (red) and old acrylic wash cloth (pink)

 Whether you use the negative space of the texture, which isn't the easiest, or the surface texture, which is easier, you get an interesting layer to your work. In these pictures, I've just used some acrylic to show you what the textures can look like, although these aren't very artfully done. I just used a roller and on one, tried to get the background texture to show, and on the other, rolled the paint onto the texture, then flipped it and pressed the painted surface onto the paper.

Using the negative space of one fruit bag

Using the positive space of the other fruit bag

Using positive space of the wash cloth

Try different things with textures! I'm definitely going to. I have only ever saved these bags and never used them. This is my first time, too! You can wash these and reuse them many times.

The other use for them is as dish scrubbies! They won't scratch your pans, and they're just like the ones that you'd buy from the store, only you already have them! Just gather them up and use a strong rubber band to hold it into a scrunchy shape. The rubber band will deteriorate over time, but you can replace it. Also, it's easier to clean these out after you use them to clean up your plates, etc. 

I hope this keeps a few more things out of your trash bin!! :-)