Jumprope from Grocery Bags

Need to find a great use for your grocery bags? Love to recycle in a creative way? Here's one idea. This simple jumprope has been a hit year after year with my kids and their friends. It's nice and heavy and they love that I can make it whatever legnth they want.

In this picture you can see that I've started the jumprope and finished the handle on one end. To complete this jumprope I will finish braiding the pieces of grocery bag into the rope until it is the desired length and then fold it over and duct tape around the doubled rope to create the handle.

Here's how I do the braid. I cut each grocery bag into four pieces. I like to cut it from top to bottom. I first lay it out so it is flat with a handle on each side and cut from top to bottom. Then I cut across the bottom and up the sides, snipping the handle in half at the top. I cut a bunch of these before I start braiding. The first part of the braid is always too thin and I end up cutting it off and getting rid of it. To begin, I take three pieces of cut bag and tape the handle end together. I like to attach that taped end to something, such as a chair, to keep it secure while I braid. As I braid, I quickly add more cut bags into my braid, adding them at the handle end. When I braid the new bag in, I fold the handle over into the braid and keep going.

As I explained above, once the rope is the desired length, cut it off with enough on each end to fold over for the handles. Duct tape around the handles using whatever color or design you like.

Do you have any other great ideas for making something fun with your plastic grocery bags?

Share your ideas with us.