8 Things to do with an old copy of World of Interiors

I love paper and I love magazines.  Our house is groaning full with both, but I do find it hard to throw out possibly useful bits of paper and gorgeous old magazines.  I've been trying to be a bit tidier and more organised recently and cull some old magazines, but I do find it very hard to just put them in the recycling bin, so I've been trying to use them in artwork.  Here is a list of what I have done with just one copy of World of Interiors.  

You can do a lot with a single magazine, so it isn't really helping with the tidying, but it does make me feel a bit more justified in holding on to it for so long (it is the December 2011 edition).

Do you have any more ideas to add to the list?

1. Make envelopes
   Don't you think one of these would be so much nicer to receive in the post than a plain brown or white one?  I'm just using a white sticky label to add the address

   

   
   

   
   
2. Labels
   I love little tags and was delighted when I discovered you could buy cutters to make them the perfect shape.  So beautiful photos give beautiful tags.  I've also been making collages from them.

   

   
   

   
   
3. Paper piecing templates
   I ran a workshop on hexagons at the K&S Show in Edinburgh earlier this month and all the hexagon templates were cut from this magazine.  I find the paper in it is the perfect weight for me to work with.  Some people like their templates thicker but I find it too difficult to stitch through.

   

   
   

   
   
4. Glue sheet
   I always need a spare piece of paper to use in the background when I'm glueing.  A magazine is perfect as you can just fold the pages together when it gets too sticky and move onto the next page.
5. Pages in a book
   I've been making little books recently and carefully selected sheets of the magazine make lovely pages when interspersed with plainer paper.

   

   
   

   
   
6. Collage
   Instant great colour, what could be easier than making a collage from these pages, especially when you cut or rip it up in such a way as the images become indistinct.
7. Backgrounds
   One of my students (thanks Chrystine!) discovered that when you paint over a glossy magazine page with dark ink, some colours don't take the ink and so remain shining through giving a lovely background to work with.
8. Inspiration
   This one is almost so obvious it goes without saying.  The colour combinations, the lovely interiors, beautiful gardens, photos from exhibitions and books and the general styling are always very inspiring to make other work from.