Recycled Paper Bowl Project
Keeping with the Recycle, Renew, Reuse/Repurpose theme for this month in celebration of Earth Day, I wanted to show how easy it is to use up some of that extra scrap paper, wrapping paper, etc. that everyone seems to have just laying around the workspace.
1. Cover a bowl (whatever size you choose) with plastic wrap to protect it from the glue. Punch out circles of different paper, I used a 1" circle punch & went to town as you can see by the stack of circles in the pictures. I used all kinds of paper (thick & thin), colors, and patterns. *You can use all double-sided paper if you only want to do 1 layer, but I have lots of paper and I figured the extra layer would give it more stability.
2. I used Elmer's Glue to stick my circles together. I started on the bottom center to make sure everything would line up. Then I went row by row around the sides of the bowl. (There's no right or wrong way to go this, you can do rows around as I did or you can do lines going down, whichever you prefer.) Once this side was done, I put on 2 coats of Modge Podge (one of the greatest inventions ever!!), letting the coats dry thoroughly in-between.
3. Once dry, I carefully removed the bowl from the plastic-wrapped bowl and flipped it over. I started the whole process over on the inside, beginning with the center bottom portion. Then, 2 coats of Modge Podge, letting it dry thoroughly in-between coats. I propped up the bowl on the inside of the plastic-wrapped bowl just to give it a little more support as it dried.
4. Once that was finished, I went over the edges with another coat of Modge Podge just to make sure the 2 sides sealed together and were stable. You can use any shape/size paper you would like, but I like the finished look the rounded edges give the sides.
There you go, now you have a cute decorative bowl that's the perfect size to hold keys, jewelry, or those little coffee table trinkets - and, you're using items you already had. Have fun with this project, the possibilities are endless!