By Karen Colbenson

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Nona Janning of Austin doesn't require yards of expensive fabrics shipped from exotic countries or shiny patent leather to design her purses. She uses something that is at everyone's disposal: heaps of plastic grocery bags.

Using bags from Hy-Vee, Kwik Trip, Target, Wal-Mart and other stores, Janning, an authentic purse designer in her own right, creates exquisite handbags, shoulder bags, totes, clutches and even small purses for little girls.

No purse is like another. Each has its own unique color pattern that is created as the one-inch plastic strips of the grocery bags are crocheted together. Some purses are brown; some are white. Janning recently made a purse using clear plastic bags. The end result was a shiny, pearly white purse.

"At first, I thought, 'Who wants a clear bag?' But it turned out to be beautiful," Janning said.

It has been Janning's hobby of choice for 20 years, and in that time, she guesses she has made thousands of purses. She still carries her things in one of the first purses she ever made. The idea came to Janning when she saw a lady from Texas carrying a crocheted plastic purse.

"I admired it, and she gave me the pattern," Janning said.

Anyone can purchase a purse at the Mower County Senior Center's Used-a-Bit store. Prices range from $5 to $15, and all of the money is donated to the senior center.

"Isn't this adorable?" Sheila Stone commented on Thursday afternoon as she modeled a large brown tote on her shoulder.

"I think they are cool. It's something for all ages and it's environmentally friendly," said Stone, the nutrition site manager for the senior center.

Janning keeps tabs on the latest purse designs and crochets whenever she gets the chance, whether it's in her home, in restaurants or in the cafeteria at the senior center. It takes her about a week to make a purse. It takes about 20 grocery bags to make one small purse and about 100 to make a large purse. Most of the grocery bags Janning uses are donated by residents of the senior center.

Sometimes, when Janning is crocheting in public, someone will notice and approach her to place an order. Janning also said she has seen women at restaurants toting her handmade creations.

"I enjoy it very much," she said. "I say, 'There goes my purse.'"

For the next few months, Janning will be working on making at least 30 purses to sell at the senior center's booth at the Mower County Fair in August.

She said she has "never felt inclined" to keep any of the money for herself.

"It's a lot of fun, and I want to do it for other people," she said. "What a wonderful place (the seniors center) is. I have never met so many wonderful people."

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