DIY standby dustpan from plastic jug

Ever faced the odd no dustpan at home situation? Rare, but something as universal as a dustpan can send you scurrying to the shops to buy another one.

What if home situation does not let you step out? Or you simply do not want to spend right away on a new dustpan? If you have a plastic jug that is shaped into a quadrilateral, it can turn into your temporary dustpan with simple DIY.

All you need, is to look for a plastic jug - water or milk, or of the juice variety, and get those easy tools out.

I used a water jug for my project.

The handle for my jug was on its corner, and not centered on one of its sides.it was a matter of taking advantage of its available ridges and contours.

Things you possibly need for this super quick DIY:

-- plastic jug

-- sharp craft knife

-- a pair of scissors

-- marker

-- ruler

-- paint pen

-- embellishments (optional)

It is always easy to cut along the ridges of a plastic container. But really, before you begin anything at all, make sure to remove any labels from the jug.

A quickie way to remove product labels, is to run a hair-dryer over the stickers for about 10 seconds, and then pull the stickers out carefully.

Wash the jug thoroughly if it is a drinks one.

Next step is to mark out along the contours - first at the bottom, The flat end of the dustpan, should be diagonally opposite to where the jug's handle is placed.

Mark a line using a ruler and marker pen. And use the tip of the craft knife to cut.

After you are done with the base, mark the cut ends of the base by connecting them with the pen, towards the handle. Leave enough gap between the handle and the edge you want to cut. Run the knife.

You can use a pair of multi-purpose scissors to cut. The only trouble with using scissors is that plastic cutting lessens their sharpness. I used scissors to trim the cut surface. When you reach the mouth of the jug, cut it off the dustpan design.

The resultant piece looked alright.

The rough cut piece, you can use your scissors to smoothen through trimming. I would not advise running these edges along a lit candle flame, as that can leave uneven curves on the dustpan.

During the trimming process, I left a little curve at the dust-gathering edge of the pan, which did not work. The dust would not slide on to the pan because of the curvature.

I had to straighten it out.

If you need to keep the dustpan for longer use, make sure to pick up a jug that is made of thicker plastic.

This piece comes in handy to gather small objects that have spilt on the floor, kitchen disasters such as rice and lentils falling off, and the likes.

I kept embellishing the pan to minimum - just a white paint pen along the edges. The piece cannot match the thickness of market bought pans. It can work as a secondary one, and also as a makeshift piece before you go off to get a new one.

You can use the left over plastic from this project for other things around home. I plan to use my pieces for handmade jewellery.

This is a project best suited for adolescents and adults. Kids need to be kept far far away from it.



Pictures and content courtesy: Radhika M B

For permission to re-use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

Scrubber with grocery mesh bags

What happens to those onion and garlic mesh bags once you finish using them? Ever thought of creative ideas with such produce bags?

However hard I try to avoid them, every once in a while, I end up with a plastic mesh bag and wonder what to do with it.

What I tried out has been tried a good deal by creativists across the world. It was still an experiment for me - converting them into a scrubber for use either in bath, or at the sink.

Interestingly, the quick project did not need a drop of glue at any point. Wash and dry the bags before you do any experiment.

What you need for the homemade scrubber:

-- some plastic mesh bags that come with onions or garlic, or other items
-- a pair of scissors
-- tapestry needle with a wide hole
-- plarn (plastic yarn) made from a fairly thick plastic cover
-- optional is a skein of embroidery thread

I had in my stash, plastic netted bags that were bundle-taped at one end, and also bags that were heat-compressed to make for the bottom. The advantage was that I could use the bundle-ended bags to stuff into the flat ended ones.

You will need to cut off the bundle ends. And spread the mesh bag out. Stretch it well, so you can fold it. Do it with two bags.

Fold these bags in a way that they fit into the the flat-ended mesh bag. This is trial and error. You can try out the folds in different ways.

Gently push the folded set into the flat mesh bag. Make sure that the edges of these folds do not jut out from the mesh bag.

 Now fold this bag. Thread plarn into your tapestry needle and start sewing the edges. I used button stitch for two sides and overcast stitch on other two sides.You will need to crease the plarn from time to time. It gets rough with each passing stitch too, thanks to the sharp plastic in the mesh.

Stitch any left over plarn into the existing stitches. Your homemade scrubber is ready. You may use it this way. I had another idea to make it look better.

Out came my crochet hook. Using the existing hooks in the edges, crochet a single crochet chain around the scrubber.

I crocheted two lines with the plarn. Stitching plarn on to a plastic mesh, and crocheting it, are more difficult than working them with an embroidery skein or other threads. Do not give up. Here is where you can alternatively try edging off with embroidery skein. Am not sure about how long it would last with the scrubber though.

The scrubber is ready for use. I am happy with the result. It is not perfect. It's functional. It is satisfying.

I was lucky to have a red plarn ready. If you do not, try using contrasting colours. Experimenting has no end with such projects. Tutorials to convert a plastic bag into a single plastic yarn exist on the internet. They are easy and fun. If you do not have plarn, try using the plastic thread available from thread stores. Just make sure it is not too sharp on the skin. You can add more mesh bags into the flat ones for a fluffy piece. Fine mesh bags are more suited for bathing, while the rough ones come in handy for dishes in the sink. Use your discretion. At no point should you let the piece of plastic hurt you though.

Try your hand at upcycling those plastic mesh bags and save on some scrubber bucks.

Pictures Courtesy: Radhika M B

For permission to use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

Crochet plastic bag gift tote

For three weeks, I did not post anything in here. Because I was busy learning how to crochet. Not wool. But recycled plastic bags. Since no one around would actually sit down to teach this sort of stuff, I relied on internet videos.

Crochet plastic bags involves three steps...cutting the plastic bag just right to make yarn, crocheting the bag right, and fine-tuning the piece.

Here is a video that teaches you to make yarn through the easy knot method.


I found interesting videos about women in Gambia who cut the plastic bags to make a single long spool of yarn. Inspirational and showing hard work by the women too. Here is one such video.

The result was - baby steps towards making something useful in crochet. I have a long way to go. But am happy I started.

This piece, I began by making larger crochet knots to make working on the second lines and third lines easier. But I don't know how my fingers and hook lean towards smaller knots as I progress. Since it was my first piece, I decided to stop when I thought a small pouch was done.

To make the bag handles, I crocheted two lines and hooked them up to the other end of the last line. After this, I rolled a lovely red-rose ribbon over the handles to give that rope-feel. A red rose embellishment I had in stock, came in handy. But I had to stitch it up well so it did not hang from the tiny tote.

You can fit in a gift ring, tiny show pieces, charms or key chains and gift your friends this piece.

Good luck with your own crochet effort if and when you begin!