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?

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree… no, not the real ones with pine needles that are reach up to the ceiling! How about the ones made of paper that fit right on a page? This paper tree collage is a perfect rainy day or evening activity during the holiday season.

All you need is…. paper! Well, okay… paper, scissors (or a paper cutter if you have one at home), and glue. When it comes to paper, let’s specify. You’ll need a large sheet of white paper for your background and then a variety of paper scraps that include the color green. You could use construction paper, scrapbook paper, leftover wrapping paper… whatever you like!

Cut your green paper into strips of different widths and lengths. Once you have a nice little pile, start stacking them on your white sheet, longest strips on the bottom. The rest can be random and don’t be afraid to mix your patterns and angles. Use a glue stick to adhere them down when you’re ready. If you like, you can cut out some ornaments, a brown tree trunk, and a star from construction paper to decorate your tree. Ta-da!

Quick, simple, and pretty! And your entire cleanup consists of sweeping any scraps of extra paper into a recycling bin. Display and enjoy!

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!

Do you love to make your own accessories? Try this fun headband that has just the right colors for Spring!

 

To start, wrap a piece of tulle around your head to determine the appropriate length. Cut three strips, one of each color (Pink, Green, Purple). Tie one end of the three pieces of tulle to the hair elastic.

A small bit of the end of the tulle may remain; that’s okay. Begin braiding the colors and simply braid the left over end into it.

Continue with your braid until you make it to the end.

Tie the end to the same hair elastic. Trim any left over pieces.

Style your hair and rock your creativity with  your new stylish headband!

Hi Scribblers,

I bet you didn’t know it, but today, December 27th, is Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day! I used to love making cut-out snowflakes in school, but as I sat down to try to make these fun little crafts, I realized I didn’t remember how to fold the paper to make the 6-sided shape! After some tinkering, I eventually figured it out and to save you the hassle, I decided to make today’s post a photo-tutorial to help you along!

To start, all you will need is a piece of paper and a pair of scissors.

First, fold the corner of the paper into an isosceles triangle (two equal sides).

Cut the remaining rectagluar piece off so that you have a square piece left over when you open up the triangle.

Refold the square into a triangle.

Fold in half again to make another triangle.

Imagining that your triangle is split in thirds, fold the first third over towards the center.

Next fold the opposite third over so that the points overlap.

Cut off the top (the points) at an angle, making sure to cut it so that all the layers are equal.

Cut into the folded sides to begin making your snowflake.

Get creative- cut out different shapes of different sizes and angles. Hint: For more intricate cutting, use cuticle nippers to make a more precise cut.

Unfold your finished snowflake to admire your work. You can glue your snowflake to a piece of colorful paper or string onto monofiliment and hang up near a window.

Enjoy!

For a little extra fun, save the scraps!!

These cut-out pieces make great confetti!

Hi Scribblers!

Pumpkins are scarce this year due to the strange weather we’ve been having. Just because pumpkins are hard to find, it doesn’t mean you can’t decorate your home!

Check out this cute Thumbkin!

Make a Thumbkin Pumpkin!

To Make:

1. Draw half inch lines across the width of orange construction paper for the pumpkin.

2. Cut out orange strips.

3. Wrap strips around your thumb.

4. Glue the end of strip to the rolled up piece to close the circle.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have used up all the orange strips.

6. Lay out the circles side by side an arrange them into a pumpkin shape.

7. Glue the circles together.

8. Cut three half inch strips of green construction paper about 4 inches long.

9. Curl an end of each green strip around your pinky (or a pen) to make a tighter curl for the leaves.

10. Glue the three green pieces in between two of the orange circles.

11. Cut a half inch strip out of brown construction paper about 2 inces long.

12. Fold the brown strip in half to make the stem.

13. Glue the unfolded end of the brown strip in between the green strips.

14. Once everything has dried, place your Thumbkin Pumpkin somewhere as a decoration or hang in a window!