Plastic Shipping Bags

When I was a kid we used to make chocolate covered pretzels. That may not sound like it has anything to do with plastic shipping bags, but it does. Well, it has something to do with polypropylene bags, which is in the family of plastic shipping bags. These are the clear, crinkly kind of bags that you can stuff with amazing goodies and tie with a ribbon and you have transformed a cheap, handmade gift into a custom-made uber-expensive-looking product. You can really up the prices on something you are trying to sell when stuffing one of these bad boys. Not that we did that with our chocolate covered pretzels. We gave those away for gifts, mostly at Christmas time. Take a mug from the dollar store bearing the face of Rudolph, tie some bells on the handle from the same place, fill it with chocolate covered pretzels (the long kind, not the braided ones), and put it one of these bags, tied with a ribbon, and voila, people think they have gotten a pretty classy gift. And it’s not about being cheap. It’s about still being able to give beautiful gifts to people you care about, even when you can barely afford to keep the electricity on. Now that’s the stuff of Christmas cheer! Seriously, though, polypropylene bags is what really brings it all together. Can’t forget those, or else it’s just a nice try, which is really just a flop. What else is in the family of plastic shipping bags? I’m glad you asked. Shrink wrap bags. Yup, you guessed it. Bags that you put something in and then heat it up and the wrap shrinks around the item. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is what makes it possible for bootlegger’s. You will never guess that the DVD case clearly representing The Titanic actually carries a homemade video of some kids practicing Spanish. This is because with shrink wrap bags you can wrap the DVD to make it look brand new. First, you need to make sure you use the correct heat sealer, also for purchase at PackagingSupplies.com (with the rest of the plastic shipping bags). This also melts off any excess at the top. Then shrink with the heat gun. If you try to be cheap about it, like a true bootlegger, and use a hair dryer you are going to wind up probably setting the product on fire, and probably your whole house too. The moral of the story is: don’t cut corners and get the actual heat gun that is meant to be used on the actual product. And good luck to you.