Eco Tip 1 - Party Bunting!

Oh boy have I been having fun with plastic bags! 

Ok, so that's not an auspicious start to any article, but hello there - what, more school holidays?  Yes, in the flash of an eye we seem to be upon another one.  So OriginalStitch has had to cast its creative net wider.  The Daughters just weren't up for uploading images of our up and coming Office Collection onto the website.  (They will have to soon.  'Bout time they started pulling their weight.)

But I can assure you we found a project that is good clean eco fun, with a healthy does of potential ironing injuries and possible asphyxiation via the means of toxic fumes.  Which I think we can all agree is an acceptable level of daily danger.  I mean, you think about it - what have you got in your workroom?  Pins....scissors....rotary cutters....one heck of selection of glues and adhesives and 14 tones of dangerously towering stashes of fabric.
So, all in all we're talking stabbings, prickings, amputations, toxic poisoning and squashings.
Never let it be said that craft is a gentle art.
Oi!  Health and Safety!  Got a live one here!  Well it IS half-term, so one needs to find child-appropriate activities, and they're just not fun unless they're a bit dangerous.  It was either this or climbing the apple tree, which is hugely fun, but we needed something to show for our efforts.  I like a result.

Um, anyhoo - so, inspired by this excellent tutorial here, which nearly made me hyperventilate with excitement (you can see from my comment on there how excited - it has made-up words in it and everything.  My level of excitement can almost always be measured by the number of neologisms contained therein) I decided to have a crack at making some party bunting, for a party we're having for me and The Husb's birthdays.  Sorry, The Husb's and my birthdays.  The Husb and mine birthdays.  Our birthdays.
Ok, I don't mean to criticise the language of Shakespeare but there are times when English just doesn't cut it.  How ARE you meant to phrase that??

As you can see we dug out a load of bits of spangly glittery loopiness, and we had an afternoon of fun making these.  The daughters got involved, and it was really quite an artistic endeavour.  You could get seriously arty farty with it because you layer up your plastics and then melt it all together and get some great results.  You could use different coloured plastic bags to make patterns or even pictures, including letters to make personalised bunting. What a great present that would be!  If I'd thought ahead could have done our names, but you know, hindsight and all that blah, so we'll go with whatever.

We used garden string for ours for a rustic look, and didn't need a needle because it's pretty prickly stuff anyway.  Worked perfectly.
When the girls were making theirs I gave them piles of ready-cut triangles and they combined them and stuck little bits of stuff in, ready to hand over the to their mother at the ironing board.  We hole-punched the finished flags and then I threaded them through, with a knot behind each hole so they can flip and flap in the wind, but basically not move around too much, or overlap.

This, for your information, is where the excellent Broadband will play - how fun is that?  They will sit 'neath spangly party bunting and play toons for us to dance to (yes, people, a barndance) and when I've had enough of the dancing, I shall take up me fiddle and get in there under the bunting and give the tunes a punt myself.

A perfect English summer garden party!  Bunting and fiddles. Whatever you use it for, I implore you - give this a go, it is SUCH fun.  Go, go - dig out those plastic bags!