04/14/2012 - Starbucks Wallet

Part 2 of the Starbucks experiment...which required buying a bag of coffee, but the bag was perfect for the face of the wallet. The green fabric was something random I came across. It was a half-sewn choir robe (or at least that is what looked like the intention) that someone donated to SCRAP. They get lots of fabric and do not accept clothing, but some pieces sneak in with the fabric and get donated to thrift stores. That is how I happened upon this unique fabric...oh, and if you plan to donate stuff, to SCRAP, be nice and don't try to sneak in clothing...even if it is half-sewn.

Reclaimed Material: coffee bag, coffee sleeves, choir robe, plastic bag
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, ruler, sewing machine, thread, iron, parchment paper

How I did it: This was similar to the CD Cover Wallet with a few upgrades. I used the same measurements, but instead of using bias tape, I used the choir robe...the color matched perfectly. I didn't fuse the coffee bag since it essentially fused plastic and aluminum*. For the pockets, I gently peeled the corrugated side off of two coffee sleeves and cut them to size. I fused them with a few layers of plastic. I covered the outside coffee bag with the fabric so that there was a 1/4" overhang on the outside and stitched it into place, then repeated this for the smaller piece of coffee bag so that the fabric made a liner for the cash part of the wallet. Things got a little tricky with the cardboard pockets and putting the wallet together. I had to make my own bias tape to sew the two pockets together. I then stitched the pieces together similar to the CD Wallet, but then again, made strips of bias tape to cover the edges and did the final stitch work.

What I would do differently: I do love the contrast of the cardboard pockets from the coffee bag, but I would rather have used a coordinating color of bias tape because it would have been much easier. I have a bunch I bought from SCRAP...but none really matched.

*I was quite sure about coffee bags being made of fused plastic and aluminum, but did a quick search to double check. I came across some neat ideas for old coffee bags: Other uses for coffee bags.

03/01/2012 - Coffee Bag Sandwich Wrap

This kind of reminds me of the little leaf pouches the Hobbits had their bread wrapped in in the Lord of the Rings movies (nerd alert, I know). I heard a speaker at a conference complain about drink pouches and coffee bags because they are not something that can be recycled (as of now). They are a plastic/foil hybrid that can't really be separated. This material does have an interesting texture for crafting though. This is a good alternative to using plastic sandwich bags.

Reclaimed Material: coffee bag, Velcro
Other/New Material: none
Tools: scissors, glue

How I did it: I cut the coffee bag open and rinsed off the coffee residue. I trimmed the bag down to about 9" x 9". I turned the square so one of the corners was at the top. I folded the sides in so they overlapped then folded the top and bottom in so they overlapped as well. The Velcro was from a gift bag I used in another project, so I was able to peel one of the pieces off to stick to the coffee bag but had to glue the other Velcro piece onto the bag. I adhered one piece of the Velcro to the inside of the top fold and the other piece onto the outside of the bottom fold.

What I would do differently: I would probably cut the bag a little differently to fold down better. It would be neat to decorate the bag as well. Maybe paint it to look like Hobbit pouches.

02/12/2012 - Packing Peanut/Coffee Bag Earrings

Sometimes you have to make lemonade. I thought for sure melting packing peanuts would mold them together to make a large piece. My original plan was to melt the peanuts together and make a box. They just shrink up into tiny pieces and don't stick to each other...they do, however, get an iridescent look to them when they are melted. I decided to try to make some kind of small jewelry with the pieces, but the pieces were to brittle to use on their own, hence the addition of plastic/foil coffee bag.

Reclaimed Material: packing peanuts, coffee bag, bicycle brake wire 
Other/New Material: earring findings
Tools: iron and board, parchment paper, pliers, glue, straight pin

How I did it: As I stated above, I melted the packing peanuts. I did as with the other plastic melting projects -- between parchment paper with a hot iron. I glued the melted peanuts with the shiny side up onto a coffee bag, also with the shiny side out. Once they dried I cut out squarish pieces from the coffee bag then poked a hole in each piece with the pin near the top to string the wire through. I cut four pieces of the wire (about 4" long each) and looped two through the loop on each earring finding. There were four pieces of wire hanging down so I threaded packing peanut/coffee bag pieces on each strand of wire. I staggered the placement of the squares then wrapped the ends and trimmed the excess wire.
 
What I would do differently: I have no clue what else I would do with these melted packing peanut thingies again. As far as jewelry making goes, I just need to keep practicing on my wire work.