Upcycled Magazines

Okay, tonights topic is RECYCLE!!!  

Everyone has a few magazines laying around, collecting dust, and holding down your coffee table, book shelf, or other random spot. Put that magazine to good use!!

My favorite, yet slightly time consuming, thing to do with old magazines is make bowls...yes that is right bowls.

Here is a few pictures of a completed magazine bowl:

This bowl was made by using two Cosmo magazines, it now lives at my friends house as a birthday gift. It is a great conversation piece!

Supplies:


+     1-2 magazines that are close to the same width
+     Scotch tape
+     Mod-podge (I prefer glossy)
+    A little wax paper
+    Bowl to form your magazine.







First: rip out the pages in your magazine as close to the spine as you can, I have found it easiest to take the front and back cover off first.

Next, start by folding up the magazine pages, first in half (long ways--or hot dog ways), then folding in half again, and then one more time...so now your have a "strip" of magazine that is about an inch or so wide and 10ish inches long. Make nice crisp folds.

Repeat this step over and over and over again, until you get an entire magazine folded.

Now take one strip and roll it onto itself starting the center of your magazine, try to roll it as tight as you can, then secure it with a piece of tape. Then add the second piece where the first piece left off--secure with tape, and continue until you have a massive circular coil.

Place wax paper over your  bowl form (place bowl upside down), place the magazine coil in the center of the bowl, and gently and evenly press down as the magazine pushes out over the form. Then add a few coats of mod-podge allowing several hours inbetween coats.

TaDA! Great coffee table accessory, or wonderful gift for the eco-friendly type!

Also try using phone books, newspapers, junk mail, old school notes, etc to make fun and interesting bowls. You may also want to try to paint them different colors--use flat mod-podge to glue up, then you may have to 'sand' it a little to get acrylic paint to stick.

Other fun things to do with magazines!

Origami flowers, "Waste" paper basket, Funky wall art.