Rolled Recycled Newspaper Crafts

I used to get angry every Thursday. Thursday is flyer delivery day. Even though I requested not to have them delivered to my house a few times, they just kept coming. If I want to see the flyers, there's an app for that. I used to pick out a few colourful ones to use for paper beads, but I thought it was such a waste since I had to recycle so many more.

Then, I discovered a really awesome craft that you can do with newspapers and flyers! I was bouncing around YouTube one day and came across a video for a rolled newspaper bowl. It wasn't in English, but I couldn't stop watching. I kept watching other videos from Gustamonton, and then I tried it for myself. You need to start by making some paper tubes. Find a great video tutorial here. I use skewers in different sizes, as well as my paper bead rollers. They are very useful for making paper tubes as well. I can't seem to find the seller I purchased mine from. The purchase isn't even listed on my "purchased item" pate anymore, but they are similar to these.

Rolled recycled paper crafts are so much fun to make! Run a quick search on YouTube for rolled paper crafts and you'll come up with a bunch of great tutorials. Some are even in English.

Here are some of the things I've made using this technique. You can find some of these for sale in my Etsy shop.

Assorted buttons are great for animal eyes and tummies.

I pushed little beads inside the holes after the piece was sealed.

 

 

These are the tubes.

You can make anything you want.

Here are some ornaments before painting and sealing.

Step 1: Roll a bunch of tubes while watching your favourite show.

Step 2: Roll the tubes into various shapes. Use a nail polish bottle, pencil and other items to get shapes with a bigger hole in the middle. I roll tiny ones to use as wings, or as a loop at the top of the piece to insert the string if i'm going to be using it as an ornament.

Step 3: Hot glue the pieces together to form anything you want.

Step 4: Give them a coat of glue mixed with water (1:1 white glue and water), and allow that to dry. Sometimes I coat them 2 or 3 times. The watery mix allows the glue to penetrate the paper a lot better than just glue alone.

Step 5: Paint.

Step 6: Give the piece a few coats of varnish. You can use wood sealers from the hardware store, or purchase other types of sealer at the craft store. They come in different finishes, just like paint.

Step 7: Add buttons or beads if you wish. Glue or hot glue them on. I do this last so I don't get varnish all over the embellishments.