Yellow paper and pulp balls
Carla Brown 7 mins0

Envelopes, Newspapers, Magazines and Junk Mail

It’s fun to creatively reuse the papers that we no longer need in our home! You can listen to my original podcast episode on this topic from January 2021 in this YouTube video:

Making Paper at Home

Have you ever made paper? In this episode, we’ll talk about ways that artists creatively reuse all that stuff that comes in the mail. Learn how to make paper with simple supplies. Get inspired by artists who make both intricate and ginormous art from recycled paper.

The material I most like to reuse when making paper is envelopes or file folders because they are usually:

  • colorful
  • thick strong paper
  • with very little ink or glue on them

The tools that I gathered to make paper were:

  • A blender to turn envelopes into pulp
  • A medium-sized rectangular plastic container to hold the pulp,
  • A frame such as a photo frame that you line with a screen or fabric
  • A presser to squeeze the excess water out of the paper
  • Thin cloths or other pieces of fabric
My paper making supplies fit in on box
My paper making supplies fit in on box – here’s my blender, frames, strainer and cloths along with samples
Paper making supplies - blender and frames
Paper making supplies – blender and frames – 1 larger 8×10 frame and two smaller 3×5 frames
Yellow paper and pulp balls with a manila envelope which was the source of the pulp
Yellow paper and pulp balls with a manila envelope which was the source of the pulp
White and gray paper made from recycled pulp
White and gray paper made from recycled pulp
Homemade "presser" for squeezing homemade paper
Homemade “presser” for squeezing homemade paper – made from two pieces of plywood – the paper goes in between the two pieces of wood and you squeeze out the water by tightening the bolts

Listen to the podcast episode to get lots of tips on how to make homemade paper with these simple supplies. It is a great activity to do with kids and adults alike. Check out the work of RunLenaRun for paper making inspiration.

Artist who Works with Security Envelopes

Christine Tischio from TurnstyleART

Clothing Made from Paper

Some designers specialize in designing clothing from paper. They compete in wearable art competitions such as:

Check out this video about the Paper on Skin Contest.

When I was first learning about trash fashion, I went to a trash fashion show in Alexandria, Virginia. I loved this dress that I saw in the show. I asked the students who made it to show me their technique. They folded pages from a calendar or magazine to make the folds:

Alexandria Earth Day 2012 - Trash Fashion
Alexandria Earth Day 2012 – Trash Fashion

Sculptors Who Roll Paper

Chie Hitotsuyama rolls wet newspaper to sculpt very lifelike animal sculptures.

Jayne Crimmins rolls paper into bead-like tubes and then arranges them into symmetrical designs.

Eileen Payne makes bowls from magazine page rolls.

You can make your own beads from magazine pages with tutorials like this one:

Sculptors who Stack Paper

Miler Lagos stacks newspaper and sculpts them into trees.

David Mach stacks thousands of newspapers and embeds huge objects into the waves such as cars, trucks, boats and pianos.

Sculptors who Do Papier-mâché

This is a technique used by many artists and one of my favorites is Abigail Brown’s animals. You can make your own animals with this tutorial:

Collage Artists

Heidi Mraz specializes in collages of classic and rare cars made from car magazines, manuals, schematics and historical documents.

Manuela Granziol-Fornera makes many paper sculptures including this huge one of a sad girl covered with beauty magazines.

Aurora Robson usually creatively reuses plastics to make sculptures, but she also makes painting with junk mail.

Check out this great interview with Aurora where she explains how she works with junk mail.

Past Trashmagination Episodes on Other Types of Paper

Show Details

Carla Brown

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