Getting the most out of your Disney Merchandise

So like some of you, I like to buy disney stuff. Which means, I often bring home those plastic disney merchandise bags. They're usually too small to use for groceries, or too big for walking-the-dog bags... so what do you do with them?

I fuse the plastic into 'fabric' and sew it into stuff!





When fused into fabric, the bags become tough and tear resistant. Similar to duck cloth or the thick vinyl shower curtain material. I find the small and medium disney merch bags make great zippered pouch sizes; I use mine as pin bags to keep my keepers separate, to hold all my Mickey ear backs, and also as pencil cases or pouches for chargers and phone cords. They're versatile, whatever you need a tear-proof, stain resistant pouch for!

I actually recycle a lot of packaging like this; bread bags, gatoraid wrappers, pretty much any plastic bag material is fair game. This way it gets a 2nd life, and stays out of the landfill just a little longer.

There are a bunch of tutorials online for how to fuse plastic into workable materials. https://makezine.com/2010/03/01/fused_plastic_shopping_bags_to/
All you need is an iron with different temperature settings (you'll need to fiddle around with the temps to get the best melt-but-not-singe for your material), some parchment paper, and a whole bunch of plastic you'd like to upcycle. I find colorful stuff looks the best, which is why Disney merch bags are so fun to use. But experiment, pretty much all shopping bags and plastic packaging can be recycled this way.
If you do give it a try, let me know!

You can also turn plastic bags into 'Plarn' (plastic yarn, hah!) via this method: Plastic Bag Crafts » Make Plarn

What else do you use your disney bags for?

That is so neat. I have never seen anything like that. Will have to keep that in mind when I retire.

I will definitely have try this. You should open up a shop on here and sell them. I’m sure you’d get some business.

What a great idea. Thanks for sharing, very talented.

I saw these at the pin trading event today. So cute!

Thanks everyone! the next time I make a batch of these (I generally make a bunch in the months leading to Christmas, go figure!) I'll try and put together a photo-tutorial!

It's not especially difficult, and only a little time consuming, but it's a fun way to reduce landfill waste and to give new life to some of those fun merch bags we've all been stashing away. : )

Pinasaurus said:

Thanks everyone! the next time I make a batch of these (I generally make a bunch in the months leading to Christmas, go figure!) I'll try and put together a photo-tutorial!

It's not especially difficult, and only a little time consuming, but it's a fun way to reduce landfill waste and to give new life to some of those fun merch bags we've all been stashing away. : )

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I re-use my merch bags that I've almost run out of the Disney ones (sold a lot of my LE dolls and each of them was packed into the appropriate sized bag for delivery). But I did like @pretty Omi 's ramen bag. That was too cute!

That’s a great zippered pouch! I’ve been considering making zippered bags but I’m pretty much only good at straight line sewing (I make quilt tops).


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xdattax said:

That’s a great zippered pouch! I’ve been considering making zippered bags but I’m pretty much only good at straight line sewing (I make quilt tops).

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If you can sew a straight line, zippered pouches should be a breeze! I use a method similar to this tutorial: easy zippered box pouch sewing tutorial with free video instructions
The only bit that can get fiddly is properly orienting and sewing the boxed corners, but once you've done a few, it's way easier than sewing bias tape on a quilt!

I love these! Thanks for sharing!

starry_solo said:

I re-use my merch bags that I've almost run out of the Disney ones (sold a lot of my LE dolls and each of them was packed into the appropriate sized bag for delivery). But I did like @pretty Omi 's ramen bag. That was too cute!

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I love my ramen bag!


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What a clever idea! Too bad I have zero sewing skills to think of, but it's fun to see what you talented people think up!