It seems like magazines always find a way to pile up. For some reason, I can never bring myself to just throw them out. Filled with beautiful images, colors, and articles, it feels wrong for them all to end up in the trash. So anytime I can put them to good use with an art project, I jump at the chance! This magazine strip silhouette is a great way to transform your old magazine pages into something creative, personalized, and beautiful!

 

For your silhouette, you can pick an animal, a person, your home state—whatever you want. Just keep in mind the level of intricacy involved in cutting the strips to fit the shape.

 

 Photo via Meaningful Details on Etsy

 

You’ll need some old magazines, scissors, glue, a pencil, an X-acto knife, the shape you want to trace for your silhouette, and something to mount this project on—it can be canvas, cardboard, or poster board.

 

Start by cutting your magazine strips. Tear out any pages that have a lot of color (or just the colors you’re looking for). Don’t worry if it’s a picture of something weird—you won’t be able to see it once it’s cut up. Cut them into thin, straight strips, roughly the same width (the length can and should vary).

 

 Photo via Apples of Gold Set in Silver

 

In pencil, trace the silhouette on your canvas. Then, start gluing down your magazine strips inside. You can trim each piece with your X-acto knife as you glue it down, or you can mark them with a pencil and trim them afterwards.

 

Once your silhouette is all filled in, it’s a good idea to finish it off with a coat or two of mod podge. This will seal down your collage.

 

 Photo via Designed By BH

And that’s it! Let it dry and hang it up. Colorful, customizable, and recycled—this fun project is great for the eyes and the environment. What are your favorite projects with recycled materials? Any other fun ideas for magazines?

Confession: I love magazines. When planning for a relaxing night in or getting ready to travel, I always run to the newsstand for a glossy or two. The problem is I end up with a stack… nay, a pile, of finished magazines at home that I don’t want to throw out, but probably will never open again. While simply recycling them all is viable option, why not make something creative with the colorful pages?

 

To create a unique kind of collage, gather your magazines (try 3), a canvas, scissors, and glue. The best part of this nifty project is you don’t have to cut out a million shapes, making a mess of scraps everywhere. Just roll and glue! Grab a colorful page, cut a straight line across so it’s the size you want, roll it up and glue it to the canvas. Once the whole surface is covered, you’ll have a cool, textured work of art.

photo: Pro Arts

For a cool variation, cut the magazine page into strips and roll them horizontally so they sit stoutly on the canvas, not long-ways. You might lose the color of the page once it’s rolled up, but you can always grab a marker and create your own color scheme.

Photo: Rag & Bone

Fun, right? Now when someone comments on my magazine hoarding, I can say I’m just collecting materials for an art project! Do you have any tips or crafts that involve recycled magazines or newspapers?

Turkey Day is just around the corner! And how better to celebrate than with the mascot of Thanksgiving… the turkey! Here’s a fun, colorful, collage-tastic craft from A Girl and Glue Gun that just you or the whole family can enjoy!

 

Grab a stack of magazines, some cardstock (plain paper will also do the job), scissors, and glue.

 

On a white piece of paper, draw a simple outline of a turkey. Cut squares of cardstock and give some to each family member and let them pick a color (or a few) to be in charge of. You can make a color theme like autumn or rainbow.

 

Now everybody start cutting out magazine clips in their colors and cover the cardstock in them. Once all the squares are covered, cut them into the shape of feathers and one for the turkey’s body. Glue them down—start with feathers so they’re behind the body. You can use the cardstock scraps for details like feet, a beak, a wattle, and eyes.

 

And you’re all done—right in time for Thanksgiving. Now, no matter what you’re serving on Thursday, you’ll have the most stylish turkey on the block!

 

Photos via A Girl and a Glue Gun

Hi Scribblers,

I was flipping through a magazine when I came across this:

I absolutely loved this! It’s so creative-in fact, this little ad has given me a fall inspired idea that I plan to work on for tomorrow!

Do you like to make Fall crafts? What have you made that looks like leaves? What have you made out of candy pieces? We would love to you’ve been working on!