when i was a kid i remember making these plastic bag wreaths out of white garbage bags. we would sit in my grandmother's kitchen for hours cutting the garbage bags into strips & then tying them onto a old wire hanger. i thought about making one for our house, since it would be relatively cheap.
then i thought about those hours it took for us to all sit there and cut the plastic bags, and changed my mind!
while picking up sandwich baggies for the dude's lunch i had the brilliant idea to use those instead. (i'm sure it's not original, but i was still pretty impressed with myself)
so here's what you need to make one:
-approximately 150 fold-over style sandwich bags
-wire hanger
-wire cutters
-ribbon/paper/ornaments whatever color/style for embellishment
1. first you want to stretch the wire hanger out into the shape of a circle. it doesn't have to be perfect because the bags will hide the wonky bits.
2. fold your baggie in half length-wise, with the opening towards the inside of the bag (i found it just makes the shape more uniform & less sloppy). then tie it in an overhand knot around the wire hanger starting at the top next to the hook.
3. continue tying baggies around the frame in the same fashion, pushing the knots closer together. the tighter you push them together the fuller your wreath will be.
4. you may find it easier to make sure the knots stay in the same direction if you wedge the wire between your knees as you work. i had the circle with the part i was working on at the top of my knees, and moved it around towards the ground as i made the knots. (*tip: make sure you pull the bags tight, but be careful, you can rip the bags. i found that if you held the bag close to the knot it made it easier to pull tight without ripping the bag)
5. use wire cutters to snip off hook at top & embellish any way you choose. i free-handed some banner shapes, painted some chipboard letters, and stapled it all to some silver elastic cording. you could wrap it with ribbon or tinsel, attach ornaments, or just wrap lights around it & hang it up!
6. hang & enjoy!! :)
xo-k
