Paper Bowl

A couple of years ago I made myself a bowl from pages torn from National Geographic magazines..my son decided he wanted one for his flat.

So here is how I made one for him.

Start by pulling out the pages, and fold in half.. then in half again.

You will need a lot, approx 600 pages, which is around 8-9 magazines. Look for them in charity shops where they are really cheap.

Start taping them end to end..

Once you have a few long strips you can start winding them. Curl the end of the first one and glue in place, then keep coiling the strip around, gluing as you go.

Keep coiling and gluing..

and more coiling and gluing till the base is the size you want..

Once you reach this size you keep coiling and gluing, but bring the sides up very gradually...till you have the height that you want.

Now you need to paint the whole thing with watered down white glue..PVA or matte medium. Brush it on and squish the glue down between the layers. Once dry turn the bowl over and paint glue on the underside too. Repeat this till they have a good 3 coats on each side.

Display on a coffee table and fill with whatever you want, though I wouldn't use it as a fruit bowl or to hold any food.

Another week, another wednesday, can't believe I have remembered to do this 3 weeks running...won't last lol Well not much has been happening, my back is still giving me problems and now I have to go for a bone scan next weds. So I have been mostly confined to barracks, you would think that would be great given the mountain of stuff I have to play with here but it aches to sit for long, so i haven't really done much of anything.

In an attempt to get some fresh air and a bit of a walk I went out looking for a red lampshade, and found a giant rabbit instead. I am convinced he had vodka in his drink, he was anjoying himself waaay too much.




Didn't find a red lampshade but did get red cushions, not quite the same i know, and hardly a substitute, but they look good on the new sofas.

So here is my desk this week, nothing crafty on there. I have beeen sorting out an old filing cabinet, which the rag n bone man took this morning, and I found some fabric/leather samles inside it, they are in bags on the desk waiting to be sorted. There were also lots of other bits and bobs from my interior design days, such as full dulux colour swatches. let's see what else...a pile of gift bags and cards from my birthday back in Feb. I want to make a mini book with them all..but that is project number 55487367893



Oh and the file folder at the front is full of Romanian which i am attempting to learn.

So onto craft stuffs, as I have been bored and too achey to do much I have been ...when I could get comfy, with a half dozen cushions packed in behind me...sat ripping up National Geographics, gotta love that mgazine. Ripping,folding and coiing in fact.

4cm diameter




27cm




and approx 44cm , I was aiming for 50 but i got really bored. Anyway as you can see, Its a huge spiral, shaped into a bowl. In this pic its upside down with a coat of PVA glue on it. I think i put 3 coats on both sides. It is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I have seen bowls like this for sale in the gift shop of the Natural History museum. But they cost monies, and i wanted a cheap bowl...

It will eventually live on top of my new coffee table, if it ever turns up, and will be filled with mini books.




Hope you all had a great Easter.x