A recent posting on my local Freecycle offered a bunch of magazines for free, so I jumped on the opportunity to upcycle them. These fun magazine coasters are the result, and while the project is time consuming, it is incredibly easy, and can be done while relaxing on the sofa.
Coasters- from magazines!
Tools:
- Scissors
- Ruler
Supplies:
- Magazine
- Clear Tape
- Quick dry craft glue
- Sealant
- Tear out a number of pages from an old magazine.
- Measure and cut two 3” wide long strips from each magazine page. Once you’ve done a number of them, you’ll get a feel for the width and eventually won’t need to draw lines to cut along. Continue until you have 30 strips.
- Working with one strip at at time, fold in half lengthwise.
- Fold the top and bottom half inwards to meet in the center.
- Fold in the center the length of the strip, resulting in a fairly even strip. Continue with all strips.
- While there are other methods of folding these strips, this method works best for me, as it does not require glue to hold it closed.
- Attach pairs of strips end to end with a piece of clear tape. If the tape extends over the edge to much, simply snip the excess off.
- To start the actual coaster, begin rolling the end of one strip as tightly as you can. Continue until you reach the end.
- Attach the end to another strip, continuing to roll tightly in a circle.
- Once all of the strips have been rolled into a circle, use some craft glue to secure the end to the coaster.
- Seal with your chosen sealant. While the actual sealant choice is up to you, this is an essential step, unless you don’t mind soggy coasters!
- Allow to dry overnight before use.
While your first magazine coaster may be frustrating, it gets much easier with practice. Be sure to keep a tight hold on your coaster throughout, or you’ll have to start over again. (In this case I am speaking from experience!)
I’m currently working on making a trash can and bowl using this concept, as well as a trivet. In case you haven’t figured out yet, paper upcycling projects (such as paper flowers) are my favorite, but I'm no one-trick pony! Hi-Ho Silverware! Giddy-Upcycle!
Please post a link to your finished project- what kinds of things have you made from magazines?
3 Responses
excellent job and thanks for such a lovely idea
November 24, 2011 at 8:06 am
I tried this and there is no way to do this without letting go at some point and having the tight roll loosen making you start all over again and again and again. Can you clarify when to tape as you connect folded sections together. I lose my grip on the finished rolled and taped pieces and unfurl the whole coaster as I'm winding. Its very difficult to hold the whole roll together and wind everything at once.
July 4, 2012 at 1:29 pm
How frustrating! When I add a piece of tape, I hold the roll in my left hand and get a piece of tape with my right hand- I use an office tape dispenser as that's easier for me. If I need to get up, I set something heavy on top at an angle. If it's coming apart on you, you may need to wind tighter as well.
If it helps I can take a picture of at exactly which point in a piece of magazine when I add the tape to attach the next piece. It is possible to attach them all together beforehand, but I've found that rather cumbersome.
Hope this helps, if not, let me know! And kudos to you for trying this out- once you get the hang of it you'll fly through them!
July 5, 2012 at 11:10 am