If you've been collecting plastic fruit netting bags from onions, lemons, and avocados with a vague sense that something crafty could be done with them — this video is the payoff. Over the course of three days of experimenting, I came up with more than 20 ideas for using produce mesh in junk journals and related crafts, from the obvious to the genuinely surprising. Everything here stays in the world of paper crafting and bookmaking rather than kitchen scrubbers and soap holders, so if that's your world too, pull up a chair.
What we cover
This is a roundup video covering over 20 ways to use plastic fruit netting in junk journal making and paper crafts. I work through collage and weaving, laminating and plastic fusing, pockets and belly bands, crocheted and braided keychains, image overlays, tag toppers, window elements, and a piece of what I'm calling jart — junk art made entirely from household waste materials. I also show finished examples of all of these, including a full journal built around the netting ideas.
What you'll learn
Using plastic netting as a collage element, including:
- Weaving strips of book pages, fabric scraps, or yarn through the mesh to create layered texture
- Combining netting with burlap, fabric, and stenciling on a journal cover
- Adding hand stitching and embroidery over and around the mesh for extra detail
How to make pockets from plastic netting — the stretchiness actually works in your favour here; a deep pocket holds its contents well and looks beautiful on a journal page.
How to make a belly band from netting — stretched over a piece of cardboard and sewn down. Worth knowing: because the material is stretchy, belly bands work best inside a journal rather than as standalone closures.
Laminating plastic netting — this was the one that surprised me most. I put the first sheet through my laminating machine with my hand on the switch ready to abort, genuinely unsure whether it would melt or catch fire. It came out beautifully. Because the plastic fuses into the laminating sheet, you can cut it anywhere — straight edges, shapes, curves — without it coming apart at all. From laminated netting you can make:
- Small pouches sewn on the sides with washi tape finishing the raw top edge
- Bookmarks cut from a single sheet with a clean straight edge on one side
- Journal dashboards and photo overlays
- Journal covers using laminated netting the same way you'd use laminated lace
Using netting as a sleeve or image overlay — the tube-shaped nets (the kind that fit snugly around a piece of fruit) can be slipped over a piece of card stock and sewn down to create a pocket with an opening on each end, or used flat over an image so the mesh texture sits on top without fully obscuring what's underneath.
Making a marine-themed journal using the fishnet quality of the mesh — the netting reads naturally as a sea or fishing vibe, which makes it a useful starting point for a themed project. I built a journal around this starting from a tag, with pockets stitched into the netting and a chain and seashell embellishments.
Crocheting with plastic netting — I learned this specifically for this project. You cut and stretch the netting into one long strand, then work a basic chain stitch. The result can become the cord for a keychain, a journal closure, or a tassel. I linked the video I learned from so you can follow along without my fumbling demonstration.
Braiding plastic netting strands — cut and stretch three pieces (in my case red, yellow, and green), then braid them together for a longer, thicker cord. This is a solid base for a journal closure or a keychain with charms added on.
Making clusters and embellishments — layering small pieces of netting with burlap, fabric, and a button or brad as the finishing element. Keeping these simple (two or three layers) tends to work better than adding everything at once.
Fusing plastic netting with an iron between cereal box liners — sandwich the netting between two layers of cereal bag plastic with baking paper above and below, then iron gently with the windows open. The result is a semi-rigid fused sheet that can be cut into shapes, sewn around, or used as a small pouch. Results are more variable than laminating, but worth trying — especially if you already work with fused plastics.
Using netting as tag toppers — not my first choice when I have ribbons and fabric to hand, but it works, especially when you lean into the texture as part of the tag's look.
Making a window element — using a die-cut oval opening in a piece of card stock with netting laid over an image underneath and everything backed with a second layer of card stock. Works as a journaling spot, a writing board, or a journal cover.
Jart — a wall-hanging piece made entirely from household waste: packaging materials, a jar lid, a junk mail envelope window, the netting, bubble wrap, a rusted key, a rusted paper clip, an old pencil, masking tape, cardboard. No purchase required. This is the one I'm most unexpectedly proud of.
Tips & gotchas
Ventilate before you laminate or iron. Both processes involve heating plastic, which may release fumes. I had my windows and door wide open when laminating the netting, and the same goes for ironing it between cereal box liners. It probably won't turn dramatic, but open the windows regardless.
Cutting laminated netting is a pleasure. Because the plastic fuses into the laminating sheet rather than just being sandwiched, it behaves like a single fused material when you cut it — no unravelling, no edges coming apart. You can cut curves, shapes, or straight lines wherever you like.
Shallow pockets are tricky. The stretchiness of the netting means a short pocket tends to let things slip out. If you're making a netting pocket, go deeper than you think you need to, or be ready to paper-clip the contents in.
Belly bands work better inside a journal than outside. A band stretched over the outside of a journal has nothing to grip and will just migrate around. Tucked inside as a holder or card sleeve, the stretch becomes an asset.
When you combine materials, you leave the recycling stream. Plastic netting mixed with cardboard, fabric, or paper becomes a composite that can't be separated for recycling and ends up in landfill. Worth being intentional about — I'm not making a hundred of these, but it's worth knowing before you start.
Shedding is temporary. When you cut and stretch the netting into a strand for crocheting or braiding, it sheds small bits of plastic at first. It doesn't keep going indefinitely, but work somewhere easy to clean up.
Brighter colors are harder to work with aesthetically. Most produce netting comes in yellow, red, or orange — none of which are easy to incorporate into a delicate or neutral palette. I found the key was leaning into the color rather than fighting it, or choosing a journal palette that could absorb the brightness.
Anything I've made with laminated lace translates directly to laminated netting: pouches with closures, bookmarks, large pockets, journal covers. That's probably where I'll keep going with this material — the laminator turned out to be the tool that made ugly plastic genuinely beautiful.
