DIY Plastic Bag Holder Ideas Using Upcycled Containers

I've collected 6 different DIY plastic bag holder ideas below, showing how you can contain your plastic shopping bags easily without having to buy anything.


Instead, just look around your home and I bet you'll find one of these containers that you can upcycle and make into a homemade plastic bag dispenser of sorts.

You'll be surprised how many bags you can fit into one of these little containers, especially if you fold or wad them tightly.

In fact, I would suggest that after you save a reasonable amount in one of these holder that you recycle the additional ones you have that don't fit in the container, because honestly how many of them do you really need at one time?

All of these photos were shared by readers. If you've got your own upcycled creation you'd like to have featured as well just submit your photos here, and I'll add the best ones to the site!

Scroll down to see all the ideas!

Make A Grocery Bag Holder From Cleaning Wipes Container

Here's another simple solution which also naturally makes a simple dispenser for your shopping bags -- a cleaning wipes container.

The picture on the right is from a reader, Jilena, who said: "Grocery bag solution! You'd be surprised how many bags can fit in these! I keep one in my car too for car garbage."

The photo on the left is from another reader, Elisabeth, who said, "We keep these in the kitchen and bathroom."

Baby Wipes Container As Plastic Bag Dispenser & Storage

Baby wipes containers are perfect for use as a plastic bag dispenser, as seen from these photos of two readers above.

The top photo of the collage is from a reader, Jennifer, who said, "I used an empty baby wipes container. I threw out bags with holes and rolled up the rest since we use these bags for cat litter."

The bottom photo of the collage is from another reader, Ashley. She said, "I decluttered my plastic grocery bags. I recently potty trained my son, YEAH! And I had an extra baby wipes box. I folded my grocery bags and stacked them inside. It's easy to pull one out at a time and they take up a lot less space. I fit over 30 bags inside! Eventually I will decorate the box with paint or paper."

In addition to using a baby wipes container as a plastic bag dispenser, it can also be used as a storage box for folded up plastic shopping bags, which is exactly what another reader, Amanda, did.


Amanda said, "I fold our bags like paper footballs and store them in an old wipes container. We use them for our small garbage cans."

Make A Bag Dispenser Using A Coffee Canister Or Oatmeal Container

You can also use many types of round containers, such as coffee canisters or old oatmeal containers, to make a homemade bag dispenser, especially if these containers have a lid.

The example photos above show how to use a coffee canister or similarly shaped plastic container for this purpose.

The photo on the left of the above collage was sent in by a reader, Karen, while the one on the right was sent in by another reader named Karen, who explained that she'd placed "duct tape on a coffee can" as decoration.

Similarly, you can also use a cardboard container as a dispenser, such as those commonly found for oatmeal.


All three pictures in the above collage were sent in by a reader, Linda. She explained, "I made this out of an old oatmeal container. We use grocery bags for cat litter and small trash can liners."

All you've got to do to the oatmeal container is cut a hole at the bottom to be used as the dispenser.

To get the bags to easily dispense she took a photo showing how she arranges and rolls the bags to put them inside the container. She explained, "I flatten the bags, fold them in half and layer them and roll them up. Takes up less space and when you you pull one out the next one pops out."

DIY Bag Holder Using Tissue Box

This next idea is quite popular, and quite a few readers have submitted their photos showing me how they do it. It's to use an old tissue box to store the bags.

The photo above is from a reader, Stephanie, who says: "I fold then before I put then in so they come out neatly!"

It is surprising how many of these bags will fit into such a small box, but look at these before and after photos from a reader, Consuelo, who did this. Look how many fit!

Consuelo says: "I wrap a bag around my fingers and tuck the end in. Each ball is then placed into an empty tissue box."

Here's a couple more pictures from additional readers. The left hand picture is from Elizabeth who said, "We do the tissue box too." The right hand photo is from Hilary, who explained, "an old Kleenex box works great too, and I have one stored in my car as well so I have garbage bags when needed."

Tide Pods Container Makes A Perfect Plastic Bag Dispenser

This photo was shared by a reader, Tina.

She explained that she liked many of the ideas shown below, but that "this is my favorite. You can close the lid and no one even knows they are there!!"

Use Plastic Milk Jug For Holding These Bags

The final idea that a couple of readers suggested was to use a washed out plastic milk jug.

The photo on the right in the collage is from a reader, Amanda, who says: "I put my used shopping bags in my old washed out milk jug. When it's full you can work on a new jug to put upstairs in a linen closet for bathrooms or bedrooms."

Similarly, the photo to the left in the collage is from Sheila, who does something quite similar.

Both ladies cut a hole in the jug so that they can both insert and then pull out the bags as needed.

More Home Storage Solutions

I hope you enjoyed these ideas for homemade and DIY plastic grocery bag holders.

There are even more ideas for storage and organizing on the site in the {A-Z} Storage Solutions & Ideas round up page. Go check it out if you'd like to see even more ideas.

In addition, if these ideas have inspired you to organize even more things in your kitchen make sure to read the Kitchen Cabinet & Drawer Organization Challenge, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge I run on the site!


You can also get lots of ideas for how to re-use and repurpose all these plastic grocery and shopping bags here:

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Join The 52 Week Organized Home Challenge

Getting Rid Of Kitchen Clutter Hall Of Fame

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