this DIY project by mindy
After seeing this post on making decorative bowls from magazine pages, I became completely obsessed! I followed the directions carefully, but my results were pitiful. I was determined to make something using magazine pages and soon discovered that rolling the sheets was much much easier than folding them. I’ve been saving my issues of Domino magazine since the beginning and decided to sacrifice one of them for this project. I’m so sad that Domino is gone :(
There are a variety of options out there and most will work great. I would avoid the lighter weight ones since you’ll want this to last for a while once you’ve spend some time on the project. I used these from the Container Store.
» magazine
Any magazine or catalog will do. Only 5-6 pages are needed for this project per magazine holder.
» glue stick
I used Elmer’s classroom glue stick that goes on purple and dries clear.
» hot glue & glue gun
low temp glue is safer and more than enough for a project like this
» tools used
scissors
sharpie
ruler
wax paper to cover the work surface
Each “roll” on the finished magazine holder represents 1/4 of a page from the magazine. The width of each page is an inch or so wider than the magazine holder spine, allowing room to trim the edges (step 4). I first tear out the full page and then cut it into quarters. Remember that you will only see about a quarter inch of the page in the end, so make sure you are happy with the content on about the last half inch of each page. If you want a certain area to be visible, trim the page shorter. You can vary the length by an inch or so and the roll will still have the same diameter.
start the roll as tightly as possible (usually 2-3 folds make a good start for the rolling) and then roll it until there is bout half an inch left. This is the only tricky part. While making sure it doesn’t come unrolled, apply glue from the gluestick long the edge (dashed line in above photo)
Using your fingers, smooth the cut edge onto the roll. The glue dries clear. so don’t worry if it gets a little messy at this stage.
Trim each end of the glued roll to get rid of the torn and uneven edges. I held my first roll up to the spine of the magazine holder and marked it with the sharpie to determine the length I wanted. I used this first roll as a template for the length of the rest of the rolls. Sharp scissors work best for this.
Once the glue gun is heated up, apply a thin line of glue along the seam of the roll and quickly apply the roll to the spine of the holder. Hot glue can get a bit messy, but luckily the stray pieces of glue usually have a way of cleaning up once dry and not ruining anything. Hot glue is your friend! If it squeezes out a litte behind the roll you won’t notice it once you add more.
