Recycled magazines

They look quite raw here, but there's so much more you can do with them!

We all have those stacks of magazines we've held on to for heavens knows how long. We're not quite sure why we've held onto them, but we just have.

Maybe for that one idea someday somewhere that'll get us to recycle them in the most creative way possible?

Well, here's one such easy, quick and quirky way to recycle and reuse them old magazines! =) And it requires very little skill (which is a very important criteria for someone like me that doesn't have much skill!).

It's rather simple, to be honest, but a tad bit time consuming. Which worked out well for me given that I have a lot of time on me before I hit uni in less than 20 days. =)

You can find many many mannnny more ideas on how to recycle old magazines on this website that I came across thanks to Pinterest: 100+ Ways To Creatively Reuse Old Magazines.

There are some absolutely fantastic tutorials there! I had a quick read through some of them and decided to mix and match and create my very own version of crafts from recycled magazines! =)

Without blabbing any further (I can really get carried away!), lemme give you a quick round up of what I did with those magazines.


What you'll need (supplies)

• your stack of old magazines
• old newspapers
• glue stick / white school glue / home made glue / any other form of glue you prefer
• knitting needle / long pencil / long stick or rod
• optional: poster paints and paint brushes

Procedure / steps

1. Make sure your working area is clean. Get your supplies together and ensure that you place a layer of old newspapers on your working area before you start. This will keep the area clean and save you trouble once you're done.

2. Now grab a knitting needle (or equivalent), keep it at one of the corners of the paper and roll along till the end.

3. You'll be left with a tiny little triangle at the end of the sheet. Use your glue stick on this triangle and stick it onto the rest of the roll.

4. After you've stuck the triangle, wait for a few seconds to ensure it's stuck properly. Then, carefully get the knitting needle out of the roll of paper.

That's me - hard at work!

And that's my little helper husband! <3

5. Repeat these steps till you have enough paper rolls. You can never quite be sure of how many you need till you actually start making what you want. But you can always go back and make these and continue with your project. =)

 

6. Projects like these take a while. And sometimes one tends to lose focus. Don't forget to keep yourself motivated at all times. I had my motivation with me throughout. *wink*

7. Once you have your paper rolls in place, you'll need to roll 'em up and then paint them (if you want to paint them at all!). 

Now, you may chose to paint the roll of paper first and then roll, or roll it first and then paint it. Either way is ok, but from personal experience, rolling first and painting later is a lot more convenient. But I've shown you both ways below.

TIP: Whichever way you chose, try to complete one thing completely and move onto the next. For instance, if you're rolling first, then ensure that you roll all your paper rolls and then move onto painting. And of course, vice versa.

a]
Take a roll of paper and flatten it out.

Roll this flattened roll of paper and glue the end shut. Hold it there for a few seconds (or even a minute) to ensure that the end is tightly glued on.

TIP: When you're rolling these, try to roll them in different sizes - some really tightly packed, some farther apart. It'll give more character to your project. =)

Once it's glued on tight, you can paint away! =)

b]
Start painting a roll of paper. Make sure you cover it completely. Also, ensure that you have lots of newspaper so you don't mess up your working area!

Once this is completely dry, flatten it out.

Now roll this up and glue it shut. Make sure it's tightly glued at the end.

TIP: When you're rolling these, try to roll them in different sizes - some really tightly packed, some farther apart. It'll give more character to your project. =)

It doesn't matter which one of the above two methods you use, the result is exactly the same! Tell me if you can make out the difference between these two little boys:

8. I was just experimenting with the blue color here. I ended up using red, black and white colours for the project I made. I simply painted over these blue ones and made them a part of the stack. =)

I like to have the TV / Radio playing in the background while I work - keeps me company! =)

Now, once you're all done with rolls (with or without painting them), you'll find you have a nice mix of different shapes and colours with you. 

There's a lot you can do with theses - create mats or coasters by sticking them close together, or create a nice little wall hanging (check this link) or you can even create a beautiful photo frame with these! Basically, they're yours to experiment with and use as you please!

You can see I used two different kinds of red paint here!
This makes a lovely mat or even coaster.

An abstract wall hanging, maybe?

Lovely picture frame use!

There is one thing I would say, though - if you do create these and make something with them, please do share them with me here. I'd love to see what you guys make. =)

Also, in case you're wondering what I did with these little babies, hold your horses - my next post is all about how I used them to make something spectacular - even if I say so myself! =) 

As you can see, I'm mighty proud of myself for having made what I did - so don't forget to check back! Once I have the post up, I'll drop in a link here as well. =)

I've just redone this blog to make it exclusively 'creative', which means that it includes cooking, crafting and any other creative ideas I might have (such as this one!). I'd love to know what you think of it so far - do please drop in a comment below and lemme know!

=)

***********************

UPDATE:

Here's the link I promised I'd post: Picture frame from recycled magazines

Hope you enjoy it!

=)