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    Home » HEALTH » Natural Living

    DIY: How to Make a Waterproof Picnic Blanket with Old Reusable Grocery Bags

    Published: Jun 30, 2013 / Modified: Jun 5, 2020 by: Dr. Karen Lee / This post may contain affiliate links. As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. /

    Waterproof Picnic Blanket ecokaren

    July 4th is this Thursday and I'm in the mood for a nice relaxing picnic since it's been a crazy few weeks in ecokaren's world in June. It'd be nice to just relax and do n.o.t.h.i.n.g. for a day, enjoying nature. And celebrate America's 237th birthday!

    So, to prepare for my "nothing" day, I made this great water proof picnic blanket with an old OLD blanket (this is at least 20 years old!) and with some old, torn, dilapidated well-used, reusable grocery bags. Some of them have torn seams and broken handles. Yes, I collected these too, in addition to dog food bags...remember my last tutorial for making dog food/water bowl out of dog food bags? One of my commenters asked where do I keep my 'collections'? LOL....I hide them in a closet - away from my hubby because he'll recycle them (hence, his title "accidental recycler") and leave me nothing to upcycle. Remember my coupon wallet that I upcycled from one of these reusable bags? If I didn't make it out of the old grocery bag I saved, he would have recycled it!

    Anyway, here is a simple way of making this fabulous waterproof picnic blanket --- because no matter how dry the grass is, my butt always gets wet and I hate getting my butt wet after sitting on a picnic blanket! I bet you do too.

    Oh, I almost forgot. You have to check out this awesome Banana Leaf Bowl (see picture at the end of the post) tutorial by my friend Myra from Herban Luxe (she makes great vegan mascara!) on Eco Etsy's blog. I was chatting with her on Facebook, trying to answer a readers's question on whether disposable dishes are better than using the dishwasher. And Myra and I were half joking, saying, that banana leaf or corn husk would make great dishes! You don't have to wash them and they are completely compostable! But all kidding aside, she said she used to eat food out of banana leaves in her homeland, Puerto Rico! And why not? Bananas are indigenous there and are cheap, environmentally safe, and they make great bowls! So check out her tutorial on how to make these fun Banana Leaf Compostable bowls and where to buy banana leaves. You can make them for your next picnic! And this waterproof blanket!

    Waterproof Picnic Blanket

    You'll Need: 

    • Old Reusable Grocery Bags
    • Old blanket or a bed sheet (another way to reuse old bed sheets. Remember my ways to reuse old bed fitted sheets here and  here?)
    • Sewing machine

    Instructions:

    1. Make sure to wash or wipe the insides of the grocery bags before handling them, just in case, you didn't wash them for awhile. It's always a great idea to wash them when using them to avoid contamination.
    2. Measure the blanket you want to use and approximate how many bags you'll need to cut to line the underside of the blanket. It doesn't have to be exactly perfect as you will see later. But you want them to line up most of the blanket. I got lucky with this blanket since it had a binding all around. But you don't really need it. Waterproof Picnic Blanket ecokaren
    3. Gather all the bags and cut out the seams and handles. Waterproof Picnic Blanket1
    4. Overlap the edges of the cut up bags by ¼" and using the zigzag setting, sew all the edges together, with the same sides facing the same direction. Sewing the plastic pieces is a bit tricky since plastic is not flexible. So sewing in tight spaces might be a bit challenging. Clear the back of the sewing machine, roll the right side of the plastic and tuck it under. Make sure to move the whole piece back with your left hand as you sew. Waterproof Picnic Blanket3
    5. When you are done joining all the plastic pieces together, you'll end up with a large piece like this. Open it up and smooth over the piece so you can sew it to the backside of the blanket.Waterproof Picnic Blanket2
    6. Lay the RIGHT side of the plastic sheet on the WRONG side of the blanket.Waterproof Picnic Blanket by ecokaren
    7. Sew the two plastic piece and the blanket together. If you can, put the sewing machine down on the floor or on a large table. After struggling a bit when I sewed the plastic sheet, I put the sewing machine down on the floor and it made my life so much easier. I needed help getting off the floor but that's just a small price to pay. Waterproof Picnic Blanket6
    8. If the plastic piece does not go all the way to the edge, don't worry about it. Mine didn't and I'm perfectly happy with it. I wouldn't waste another bag, just to make it fit perfectly. After all, it's about upcycling the old and useless bags. It wouldn't make sense to destroy a fine bag just to make the plastic side to fit the blanket perfectly. I just won't sit that close to the edge!sewed Waterproof Picnic Blanket

    And now I'm ready for a picnic!

    picnic basket and fruit basket on top of Waterproof Picnic Blanket

    And remember to check out the awesome compostable banana leaf dish tutorial from Myra! Now that's taking the environmental-ness to a whole 'nother level! Compostable_Banana_Leaf_bowl

    Happy Birthday America!

    More Natural Living

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    • Non-Toxic DIY Dishwasher Tablets
    • Homemade Borax-Free Laundry Detergent for Sensitive Skin

    About Dr. Karen Lee

    I am a food writer, recipe developer, and a cookbook author sharing my family’s favorite simple & easy, allergy-friendly recipes with you! Let's connect on Instagram || Facebook || Pinterest || YouTube Learn more about me on the ABOUT page.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Deborah says

      March 30, 2016 at 10:44 pm

      Thank you so much for allowing your project to be featured. Here is the link http://www.salvagesisterandmister.com/reuse-grocery-bags-paper-plastic/

    2. Deborah says

      March 16, 2016 at 9:38 pm

      This is so awesome! I would love to include it on a round up I am doing on my site. Please let me know if you are okay with using one pic and a link up to your site.

      • Dr. Karen Lee says

        March 23, 2016 at 3:41 pm

        You certainly can use the picture and the link for your roundup Deborah! Just make sure to link it back to this original post! Thx for the consideration!

    3. cucicucicoo says

      January 18, 2014 at 10:13 am

      What a great idea! I've been wanting to make something like this with an old shower curtain or waterproof tablecloth beneath, but I've yet to find a used one and refuse to buy a new one. I don't have shopping bags to get rid of, but I do have other large plastic sacks that I could do this same thing with! Yah!
      I'm new here to your blog and love it! Yah for eco-friendliness! 🙂 Lisa

    4. Jat here says

      June 30, 2013 at 6:51 pm

      Where do you get shopping bags like that? Did you buy them at one point? Or do some types of stores put your purchased items in them and you get to reuse them? Where I live, there are either the flimsy plastic grocery bags, or the nylon weave (not plastic) reusable bags (non-recylable)?

    5. GGirlGGreen says

      June 30, 2013 at 1:11 pm

      love this idea!!! 🙂

      • ecokaren says

        June 30, 2013 at 1:18 pm

        GGirlGGreen Thanks Stephanie! I know you don't sew so i wonder if you can either staple (yikes!) or tape the two panels together to make it waterproof and use up old reusable bags.

        • kdfgreene says

          June 30, 2013 at 2:17 pm

          ecokaren GGirlGGreen Try that fusible tape - like stitch witchery - you just iron it.  Oh  that gives me hope that I may actually be able to make one of these myself!

          • ecokaren says

            June 30, 2013 at 2:19 pm

            kdfgreene GGirlGGreen That's a great idea. Like this one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001DSIHI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0001DSIHI&linkCode=as2&tag=ecokaren-20

    6. Robin Ramsey says

      June 30, 2013 at 12:56 pm

      This is AWESOME!!!!

    7. 5 Orange Potatoes says

      June 30, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      GREAT idea!

    8. HerbanLuxe says

      June 30, 2013 at 10:27 am

      Karen; awesome post. I'm going to have to give this tutorial a shot.  Thanks for linking back to my Compostable Banana Leaf Bowls.

      • ecokaren says

        June 30, 2013 at 12:13 pm

        HerbanLuxe This tandem post was fun! And I love your bowl. I'm going to make them for my July 4th block party!

    9. kdfgreene says

      June 30, 2013 at 10:25 am

      That is a great idea!  I'll have to get my mom on this one, since I don't sew 😉

      • ecokaren says

        June 30, 2013 at 12:12 pm

        kdfgreene This is an easy peasy sewing project. You should ask your mom to teach you! 😉

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