NJ Makers Day: Plarn

What is plarn? It’s plastic yarn, often made from plastic bags, and it can be used in lots of ways. If you knit or crochet, you can make pot scrubbers, coasters, or reusable tote bags. Some people collect enough plarn to make sleeping mats for the homeless since they’re easy to clean and don’t get soggy. But you can also make decorations like pompoms, garlands, or flowers; and you can even braid plarn to make a jump rope.

At the Library, we receive several newspapers every day, each in their own plastic bags, but we don’t want those bags to end up in a landfill. They come in a variety of colors, and we’ve been saving them for plarn activities. You’re welcome to stop by the Adult Services desk and take some bags to try plarn out for yourself.

Making plarn is pretty simple to do. We’ve put together instructions on how to make it from newspaper bags, but if you have a collection of plastic shopping bags at home, you can find a great tutorial on our online resource Creativebug called Make Plarn for Earth Day.