how to.... reuse magazines!!!

My family and I are all packrats. My aunt had a ton of magazines that she gave me. Magazines are good for collages but I don't make a lot of them. So now I have a ton of magazines and what in the world do I do with them!

So I researched what I could do with them and found a lot of different things, but I decided to make a picture frame.. Here I will show you how to make a sweet picture frame with old magazines!!

First start with a pile of magazines.. Rip out pages that you think are colorful all over or whatever. And then trim the ripped side.

Next cut the magazines into strips.. I cut mine into inch strips but you can do whatever depending on how thick you want the frame.

For the next part, you can do two things.. I cut the strips in half because I didn't want the rolls to be super thick (plus I was just experimenting). You could also just use the entire strip for a thicker roll. After you do either one, you roll the magazine really tight. Then tape the end.

After you have done a lot of these its time to put them together! I bet there is a more sturdy way but here's the way I did it.. I wanted a 5x7" rectangle so I added and inch on each side for the frame (7x9"). Then I cut that size out in mat board so the middle was 5x7" and the outside was 7x9".

After my mat board was cut I started gluing the rolled up magazines on to the mat board. I used Mod Podge. The problem with my method is that the frame was a little flimsy. But I really liked how it turned out.. Good luck making yours!!!

how to cradle a wooden panel..

To cradle a wooden panel I referred to a video created by a professor. Here's the links..

Link 1 

Link 2

Link 3 

Link 4 

But when I was creating my wooden panel, I wish there were instructions that I could have printed out so I wouldn't damage my computer.. So I will tell you step by step what I did...

1. Buy the wood! I went to Lowe's and bought what the video told me to only in the size I needed of course.. I bought quarter inch Luwan and 1x2" select pine. (FYI go in there like you know what you are buying or else the Lowe's people will try to sell you stuff you don't want). Make sure you buy extra 1x2" so you can make supports out of them.

2. Get everything ready! Cut the 1x2" the size you want with a miter saw (45°). My dad didn't have a regular one so we used a miter box which is the same except you use it with a hand held saw instead of electric. 

3. Start nailing! Once the 1x2"s are cut and ready to go nail them together. The way the man did in the video was really helpful because I didn't have a nail gun. 

4. Make some supports! Even canvases need supports or else the canvas will end up breaking. In this case, the wood could end up warping. For the supports, they don't need to be an exact size just make sure they aren't super small or else they won't work. Cut your extra 1x2"s with the miter saw. For my 23x30" panel I just used 10" supports. Once the supports are ready glue them to the frame part and staple them for an extra grip.

5. Attach it all together! Its time to glue the back to the panel.. The way he did was really helpful. Put the back on the panel, line it up, then trace along the sides. Fill what you traced with wood glue and attach the back to the panel. Make sure you clamp it together. In my case, I didn't have enough clamps so I used a bunch of objects...

There's the miter box we used in the middle. Clamps would probably be better to use..

There's a picture of my wiener dog!! Here's a close up of the supports that I made.

 6. Extra hold! Next in the video, the professor uses some sort of drill bit to drill a hole in but also takes out some of the surface so you don't have a notch on your painting. However, My dad didn't have that so we used a bigger drill bit to take some of the surface out and a smaller one to put the screw in. Then afterwards I filled up the hole with wood filler. 

7. Final step!! To prepare my panel to paint on, I covered it with gesso. First I painted all over with gesso going horizontal and vertical strokes. Then I sanded the gesso just a little bit! Don't go sanding crazy!! Then I reapplied gesso. You can sand that layer too but don't go crazy with it again! Here is my panel waiting to dry..

Now my panel is ready to be painted on!!! Here is my food painting so far..

And what its supposed to be..

If I were to do some things differently I would definitely use a real miter saw. The miter box worked but it wasn't exactly precise so my corners are kinda funny. I would also have waited longer to drill the hole in. I think the glue on mine wasn't completely dry and the panel moved from the back a little bit. 

Otherwise I think that a wooden panel is a great alternative to a canvas! Its really durable and fun to make!! Good luck making yours!!