Try This: Upcycled Paper Bowl

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Photo By Seth and Kendra Smoot

With a little glue and a bit of gumption, you can transform a discarded magazine into stylish storage. Make one of these bowls for your entryway to store keys and loose change and another for your coffee table to corral remote controls. Don’t stop there! Get creative with shapes and sizes, and see what unfolds. 

Reader’s Digest 

Once you’ve devoured every word, turn articles into artful accents. 

Tools and Materials 

X-Acto knife
1 magazine
Bone folder tool
40 small butterfly clips (optional)
Crafter’s glue
Paper cutter or scissors

How To 

1. Use the X-Acto knife to cut out about 20 magazine pages. Cut pages in half lengthwise.

2. Once you have about 40 strips, take one piece and fold a long edge over about 1 inch.

3. Use the bone folder to crease the fold and continue folding over and over until you reach the end, creating a long strip. Use the bone folder every few folds.

4. Secure the ends of each piece with a butterfly clip, or place the folded strips inside a heavy book to keep them intact.

5. Make 40 folded pieces. You can make more later if needed.

6. To create a base for the bowl, take one folded magazine strip with the open fold facing down, and roll it into a tight coil. Place dots of glue between each part of the coil as you wind it together. You’ll end up with a round disk.

7. Take a second folded piece with the open fold facing down, and glue the end to the outside of the first disk. Roll this second piece around the disk, again placing dots of glue periodically between coils.

8. Continue adding pieces until you have an 8-inch-wide flat disk.