Magazine Make-Overs

Make-overs in magazines generally take the form of adapting a living space or person to make them more glamorous. But what if, instead of the make-over occurring in the pages of the magazine, it used the magazine itself?

Print quality today makes magazines far too good to waste. If, like me, you want to give your magazines a second life, here are some ideas to make the very most of them. Fortunately, many of my friends feel the same way and some of their ingenious projects are shown here.

Inspirations

My first task when taking a creative textiles course was to look at illustrations and choose the ones which spoke to me. What colours and textures did I find myself drawn towards? What moods did they express? It was a fun exercise, not least because it made me better aware of colour combinations and the effects they have on our mood.

When faced with the seemingly endless choices of paint and fabric in the world, it can be a good place to start to narrow the field. We don’t need to copy the rather curated ‘set’ of the magazine spread, but we might pick out features that we can replicate in our homes and clothes. Perhaps it will nudge us to try something new knowing that these two colours, for example, really can look good together.

Purposeful play

As most of you know by now, I am a bit of an origami fan. When I find gorgeous illustrations in a journal, I cannot help but pull them out to add to my rather capacious store of papers.

By using these papers, if the project doesn’t go well, nothing is really lost. It can go straight to recycling. If it does go well, then you have something original and beautifully illustrated to enjoy.

My favourite activity when I have a few minutes and have the urge to create is to make little boxes or envelopes. They are perfect for tiny things like paperclips, post-it notes or sweets brought by a friend. When they get tired, I make a new one!

As for envelopes, what is more perfect for seeds than those already adorned with vibrant flowers?

20 minute collage

Don’t have time to work out how to make all these? Well, perhaps the next idea will appeal. It requires absolutely no skill and only twenty minutes. I confess that I took longer due to my inability to just get on with it and my perpetual desire to doodle in the margins.

This activity is both a creative and thought provoking one. It was suggested by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way (yes, that again) as a means to bring a more playful approach to creativity. If free-writing took a visual art form , this would be it. Find a quiet moment, a few old magazines, supplements or even advertising materials and rip out anything that appeals. Next, stick them on a big piece of paper in whatever order seems most pleasing.

For artistic play, it is quick enough and satisfying enough to quell those little creative urges. As a visual free write, it reminds us of what we really love. Often life and responsibilities cause a certain amnesia in this regard. I have to work in the city, because that is where the work is etc. But if, like me, you are constantly pulling out pictures of the countryside and seascapes, perhaps it is time to think about remote working or a new job.

Our sensible brains will often block what we actually want and make us miserable. If we can find a way to discover what we really want in life, and work towards achieving it, we may well find the happiness that eludes us at the moment.

A second life

This week, my friend rather serendipitously said that she couldn’t throw away her magazines because they were just too lovely. I know what she means. Some she stores, but when she sees an especially pleasing image, she uses them to wrap old boxes and give them a new lease of life as waste paper baskets.

Another friend chose to use her old magazines to design a very bespoke card for her husband. I love the diorama effect with layers of depth. In addition to the gorgeous images, inside is a tiny chair made from a bottle top and wire. Who needs a present after receiving such an art work?

The delights of decoupage

What prompted me to write this post is featured below. My copy of Uppercase magazine had gardening as its theme and the pages were crammed with the most adorable images. One set were of old fashioned and imagined seed packets and I simply could not throw them away. Some were used to make cards and the majority were used to decoupage my little table. I’d found the table for a bargain £6.99 at the charity shop and knew it would be perfect for my she-shed.

All it needed was a little zip. Originally, I planned to paint it in the shed colours, but the seed packet illustrations called out for a life reimagined and longer lasting.

It took some time to cut them all out, but it was a quiet and relaxing activity. Having laid them out and arranged them as I thought best, I only needed to stick them on and give it several coats of varnish. Washi tape served as a nice edging device.

An afternoon (post cutting out) was all that was needed to transform a rather sad looking table into a vibrant one. It certainly isn’t perfect, but it does always make me smile.

With all of us having to take care of our expenditures at the moment, finding ways to reuse and repurpose the things we have is a ideal way to enjoy very cheap entertainment, with little waste and hopefully, beautiful results.