magazine holder

Mindy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:53:39 +0000

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 :(

» magazine holder
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

tear and prepare
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.

roll and glue
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)

smooth the edge
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 the ends
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.

hot glue
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.

The placement of “domino” wasn’t even intentional when I was cutting this pages, but I like it a lot and once I get around to doing a few more of these for other magazines, I want to do the same thing with the titles.

framed wrapping paper maps

Mindy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:12:43 +0000

this DIY project by mindy

One of the easiest, cost effective ways to create instant art is to frame decorative papers. I usually lean towards simple graphic patterns for framing, but decided to frame wrapping paper maps to add to our growing wall of maps in our home office.

» frames
Work with what you already have to keep this project low budget, or invest in some frames you like. I have always been a huge fan of the surprisingly sturdy IKEA Ribba Frame. Sold in a variety of finishes and sizes, the two I used here were $20 each,

» paper
Any type or size of paper can be framed. These papers are made by Cavallini and the paper is a great thickness that stays nice and flat behind the glass. Most art stores or paper craft stores have an interesting supply of large flat decorative papers. Some (like these) are sold as wrapping paper, but are worthy of framing. These cost $3 each. If you are in the Bay Area, my favorite places for paper are Flax, Paper Source, Pearl Art, Gump’s and Maido.

» tools used
scissors
ruler
pencil
hammer & nails/picture hanging hooks

Single Sheet
The Paris map paper was exactly the right height for the square frame, but too long, so I aligned the left edge in order to show the “PARIS” text and cut off the excess on the right side. The easiest way to do this is to remove the glass from the frame and place it over your paper as a cropping guide. Remember that the frame will cover a portion of the paper at the edges, so adjust accordingly. Then just trace on the paper using the glass edge as a guide and trim the paper.

Go Ahead, Cut it Up!
This IKEA Ribba frame came with a pre-cut matte to fit three 5×7 inch images. I placed the openings of the matte over the NYC Subway map to select my cropping areas. Each selection came from a different part of the map, so I made sure to trim carefully each time to leave the rest of the map intact. I trimmed the paper larger than the hole and taped it to the back side of the matte as I looked at the front side to make sure it was aligned correctly. I chose these three croppings to represented areas I remember most while visiting NY and the location where my father spent his childhood (Queens).

Wall of Maps
My two framed wrapping paper maps fit in nicely with the other maps of India and California that we received as a gift a few years ago. I’m not much into decorating with themes, but a huge wall of maps representing places we are from, have been and want to go has enough meaning that I can overlook the themeyness. I plan on adding a San Francisco map (Cavallini just made a nice new one that is all shades of green and very vintage looking) and a Chicago map once I find one I like.

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magazine holder

framed wrapping paper maps