Last Updated on December 17, 2023 by Kimberly Crawford
Three fun and easy ways to reuse your old newspapers.
Everyone has a pile of them somewhere, newspaper, that is. And while it is always a good idea to recycle them, why not put them to reuse? There are plenty of crafts you can create with old, outdated newspapers and penny savers.
Paper Bowls
One great way to reuse newspaper is to make a rolled ball bowl or a folded bowl.
To make a rolled ball bowl you will need
- a stack of newspaper
- white glue
- paper clips (or hair clips).
- Unfold one sheet of newspaper. Then cut it down its center, making two sheets.
- Roll a second sheet from top to bottom. Once at the bottom, wrap it around your pointer and middle fingers, securing the end with your thumb.
- Put a little glue on the flap, making a perfect (or imperfect) circle. Place one of the clips around the end until the glue dries thoroughly.
- Continue this process until you have at least twenty-five circles. Now you pile them atop each other, starting with a smaller ring on the bottom and slowly building up with each row you pile on top. Glue all the circles down as you go.
- Once done with this process, you should have a project that looks somewhat like a waste-paper basket. You can also make more circles to use as the bottom or you can simply place one piece of newspaper to make a base. And voila, you have a recycled newspaper bowl.
A folded bowl goes much in the same way as the rolled bowl, except of course that you will fold the paper down instead of rolling and you will need to attach a few rows together to make one row. The folded bowl is slightly more time consuming and complicated than the rolled bowl, but if you stick with it, within four or five rows, it should be taking the shape of a bowl and you just keep building up from there.
Image credits: thechillydog, paperhigh, frugalupstate, youtube, thesprucecrafts, livingonthecheap, instructables, hgtv,
Newspaper Purses
Another simple way to reuse newspaper is to make a simple purse or clutch out of it. First you must decide on the size you want to make. For a small bag, use a forth of a sheet of newspaper, for a larger bag use half the sheet at a time. Now the choice is up to you and your creativity; simply fold the pages, make different shapes out of it and glue it together…
Once you make your outer layer, you will need to glue numerous rows of pages behind it to reinforce it and make it strong. Once done with this, you can brush on the outside a light coat of white glue and let it dry, to make sure the ink from the paper doesn’t wipe off and to make it more waterproof. From there, you can decide whether or not you want a strap. If you do, simply find some material (strips from old clothes or old rope lying around) and sew it onto the insides of the bag.
Last but not least you must decide if you need the top to close in any way. If you do, there are a few options. You can use a large paper clip and keep it in the center, or you could glue buttons on either side and use yarn to wrap around them (should also glue that down so you don’t lose it). And, there you have it: a newspaper purse.
Image credits: instructables, abeautifulmess, laughingkidslearn, cutoutandkeep
Reused-newspaper projects are relatively easy and not very time consuming. In these days of green living, newspaper bowls are a trendy addition to your home. And in hard economic times when money for a new purse is hard to come by, why not make your own out of items you already have lying around the house?