Quilling with Old Magazines

Quilling is an art form that uses strips of paper that are that are rolled and formed into different shapes to create an image. There isn't a rule that says what kind of paper you have to use though.  For this project, we used old magazines which frankly, needed to be used.

A quilled letter made from old magazines.

The project itself was inspired by a pin on Pinterest. It is a great site for ideas and inspiration.  The pin was an image of a cross made out of old magazine pages that were rolled into circles. Magazines? Glue? Modge Podge?  Hmmm...this was something I had to try. Anytime I can use something I have laying around or fereee, I get excited. In this day and ages of budget cuts, I am all about saving and penny pinching. I started folding magazines the next day to give it a whirl.

What I saw when I looked at the image were lines and circles and I thought, this can be applied to other images you just had to think in those terms.  I made a cross first like the original image I saw.  Actually, it was so easy, I made several. It however, did take time.  The lengthiest part of the project was the actual folding, but when I showed the kids what I had made, I had several assembly line volunteers.  We all worked together to get the process done. Anytime someone was finished with their work, they were folding.

The original image I began with.

Instead of crosses, although many chose to do so, we made letters. It was close to Mother's Day, so some made a letter from their Mother's name, some made hearts, and some made picture frames.  It was only limited to their imagination. Since this was a first time project for me, I was all about "let's see what we can do with it" and was game to try anything that seemed feasible.

This was a fun project and once again, it didn't cost much to do at all.  The magazines were donated (thank you), we had lots of glue, and instead of using Modge Podge, we used a mixture of glue and water to finish off our creations (thank you again, Pinterest). I don't know who the originator was, but I found instructions for the project here. Enjoy!