5 Crafty Ideas for Reusing Paper

Paper is a pretty inescapable product. Whether you’re reading a book, checking the mail, or working on a craft project, chances are you’re using paper. In fact, Americans use around 700 pounds of paper per person every single year!

Rather than tossing all of that paper in the bin, why not use your crafty skills to give it a new life? Here are some common paper products we encounter and ideas for how we can reuse them.

Magazines

The greenest option when it comes to magazines is to stick to reading online. Still, magazines seem to somehow creep into our lives. If you don’t have a subscription, maybe you have friends or family members who do?

Magazines pages are perfect for all sorts of paper crafts where more delicate paper will do the trick. You can hunt down the perfect image for a collage piece or assemble lovely magazine flowers. To turn magazine pages into origami paper, just cut the paper into squares, and you’re ready to fold! The images and text will add nice color and interest to your folded pieces.

Want to make a magazine paper crane like the one above? Just cut a 6 to 8″ square from a magazine page, and follow these folding instructions.

>>Next: Book Pages

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Camila K.

7:52PM PDT on Jul 30, 2011

with imagination, a throwaway becomes a treasure

send a green star

Robert O.

12:49AM PDT on Apr 11, 2011

Good ideas.

Cindie W.

5:02AM PDT on Apr 5, 2011

My 16yo daughter does fabulous collage with magazine photos. She covered a wall in her room with collage. She also uses collage to decorate envelopes for mailing, makes her own birthday cards, and uses her black and white photography in her collages as well.

Ve G.

8:53PM PST on Dec 19, 2010

I love the mask idea so cool.

Danell A.

11:27PM PST on Nov 28, 2010

Great ideas. Thank you so much for sharing.

Zachary J.

7:04AM PST on Nov 16, 2010

Nice Ideas. I'll try to use them in the future.

Angelica P.

9:21AM PST on Nov 14, 2010

Thanks.