Liz Swafford: Magazine pages made over

Published 11:55 pm Tuesday, January 14, 2014

If you read a print edition of the newspaper, more than likely you also get print subscriptions to your favorite magazines. Once your magazine has been thoroughly read, what can you do with it?

Sharing it with a family member or friend is one thing that comes to mind. Recycling, of course, is another option. What about transforming those shiny glossy pages into something new and completely different?

Glue, scissors, a skewer and a little patience are all you really need to make over your magazines into one of the following crafts:

Picture frame

Rolled up magazine pages can add color to a picture frame and really make the photo stand out.

To get started, you’ll need an outdated or really inexpensive picture frame that you won’t mind gluing paper on. Also, a stack of colorful pages ripped out of a magazine, a glue stick or glue gun, scissors and a thin skewer.

Gather five to 10 pages of the magazine together and fold each in half length-wise or vertically. Cut the pages in half following the crease. The edges don’t need to be perfect. You should end up with long rectangle-shaped pieces of magazine paper.

Next, roll each individual sheet into a round tube that looks like a paper straw. Lay the sheet flat vertically with the most colorful side facing down. Take the skewer and place it at an angle on the bottom right corner of the paper so that the center of the skewer lies on top of the corner of the page.

Starting at the bottom right corner, roll the magazine paper around the skewer to begin making the tube. Add glue to the paper and keep rolling until you have completed the straw. Remove the skewer, make sure the paper is glued down and set it aside to dry.

Continue to roll sheets until you have enough to cover the frame. Depending on the size, you may need to cut more magazine pages in half. Arrange the rolls on your frame in any angle you want. Laying them out horizontally makes it easier to work with, but angled rolls look really great, too.

When you have the rolls in a pattern you like, put some glue down on the frame. Quickly place the rolls on the frame as desired, adding glue in between each roll. Let it dry and then trim the edges.

Coiled coaster

Accent your coffee table with multicolored coasters that are inexpensive to make, yet durable. You’ll need sheets ripped out of old magazines, glue stick or glue gun, scissors, a thin skewer and a sealant like Mod Podge matte medium.

To get started, first make sure each page has straight edges, trimming jagged edges as needed. Then, cut each page length-wise or vertically into four equal sections. You should now have long strips of paper about one-and-a-half inches wide.

Take one of the magazine page strips and lay it on the table horizontally. Using a glue stick, lay a thin layer of glue across the entire top portion of the paper. Fold the strip in half horizontally, taking the bottom edge and folding it up so that it lines up with the top edge. Press down and make sure the top edges line up.

Add another thin layer of glue across the top of the paper. Fold the strip in half horizontally again and press down. You’ll now have a long strip of paper about a quarter inch high. Set it aside to dry and fold the other newspaper pages the same way.

Now that you’ve finished folding the paper it’s time to coil it or roll it up to make the round coaster shape.

Take one of the thin strips of folded magazine paper and lay it vertically on the table. Place a skewer at the bottom edge of the strip so that the middle of the skewer is above the paper. Press the skewer down and begin rolling the paper onto the skewer. Once you have two or three inches rolled up, add some glue to the strip, using the glue stick or a glue gun.

If using a glue gun, add only an inch or two of glue since the hot glue dries quickly. Continue rolling the strip around the skewer to build up a disc shape. Remove the skewer after a few inches have been rolled and continue rolling up the strip by hand.

When you reach the end of the strip, add some glue along the outer rim of the disc. Take another strip and begin to glue that onto the disc and continue rolling and adding glue to make the disc wider. When the magazine paper coil is as wide as you want it to be seal the entire coaster with Mod Podge and set it aside to dry. 

While you wait, you can start making another coaster to complete your set.

Liz Swafford is the recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. Have a recycling question? Contact her at (706) 278-5001 or lswafford@dwswa.org.