I think we can mostly agree that the coronavirus quarantine hasn’t exactly been pleasant. But, let’s look at the bright side here! Thanks to my need to go absolutely nowhere, that has left me with some extra time on my hands. So, I like to see what I new project I can conjure with upcycled magazines! 🙂
Because of the shopping restrictions imposed by the quarantine, I decided to challenge myself to create a craft using only materials I had on hand. I love upcycled crafts because creating them gives me a chance to really stretch my imagination! Seeing as how I don’t get to craft much and thus don’t have a big arsenal of tools (or a crafting space for that matter), this was a challenge for me!
What I do have, however, is plenty of recylcable materials laying around! Empty cereal boxes. Old magazines. Washed out tin cans. And an endless supply of sticks, vines, pinecones, and all sorts of nature’s goodies from my backyard! Free, beautiful material waiting to be given new life!
In the end, I decided on using the magazines (my favorite go-go….see my upcycled magazine palm tree craft). I ended up creating with this cute upcycled magazine wreath, just in time to hang on my door for those warm summer nights! I even made the form using vines from an overgrown something-or-other in my backyard. Right now, I would have rather done that than hauled all four of my kids with masks to Michaels, 30 miutes away. No thanks!
So, without further ado, here’s how I created this wreath. You’ll need:
- Old (upcycled) magazines
- A wreath form (you can make your own if you want)
- Scotch tape
- Scissors
- Wooden skewer
- Paper cutter (optional, but this is the one I have)
- Hot glue gun and sticks
First, you’ll need to make a bunch of flowers. To do this, start by tearing out colorful pages from your upcycled magazines. I cut the torn edge off just to give me a nice, straight edge to work with.
Then, I folded the page in half from top to bottom. I folded the most colorful side inside, as this will be the predominant color of the flower.
Next, I folded one flap back to meet the seam in the middle….
And did the same on the other side.
This is what you should have:
Ignore all the scratches on my table. This is what happens when you have four kids!
Now that your magazine paper is folded, it’s time to cut it. Cut small slits along the edge shown in the above picture. The key is to start with shorter cuts and to make them gradually longer as you go along. This is shown in the next picture:
Now, it’s time to roll your flower! Use a wooden skewer (or whatever else you may have similar in size). Begin rolling your flower at the end of the shorter cut. The step is tricky and takes patience!
Once it is rolled, take a small piece of tape and roll it around the base of the flower to secure it in place.
Fluff your flower out with your fingers. Your flower is done, and beautiful!
Now, make a million more! Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but this is the most time-consuming part of the project. I made about 60 or so of them. It is fun to see them come together with all the beautiful colors, though!
Once you have all your flowers, it’s time to glue them onto your wreath. I didn’t get any good pictures of this process, but start with a light layer on the outside of your wreath (maybe 10 – 12 flowers). Repeat for the inside, and then fill in the space! That’s pretty much how I did it. It’s not rocket science, and it would be really hard to mess this up!
Put a hanger on it, and viola! You’re done!
My friend suggested spraying it with a clear acrylic to give it a waterproof coating. I haven’t tried this, but I think its a great idea!
One tip I have is to use magazine’s marketed toward women if you have them (Shape, Women’s Health, Woman’s Day). These magazines are filled with super-colorful pages that will make beautiful flowers for any upcycled magazine project!
Now it’s back to quarantine (although South Carolina has lifted most of the restrictions, we are still self-quarantining for our own family’s sake)! No problem, though. I’ve got plenty of ideas to for upcycled magazines…I wonder what I’ll come up with next!
What about you? I’d love to see some of your quarantine crafts! Now’s the time to start getting those Christmas gifts ready…we certainly have the time!