Magazine Coaster

How many magazines do you have in your house that are super old and just take up space? I have too many to count. With this activity, you can put those magazines to good use! We’re going to make a coaster that you can use to decorate your bedroom, house, hospital room, or even pack it away and bring it to college.

Supplies:

• 1 magazine

• Scissors

• Paper clip

• Hot glue gun

*Tip: you can use regular school glue but it might not hold it together as well as hot glue. If you use school glue, hold the pieces together longer to make sure they stick

• Thin corkboard

• School glue

• Ruler

• Pen

Before you begin your activity, plug in your hot glue gun so it can warm up. Be sure to rest it on a piece of cardboard or paper towel so no glue drips onto your table.

Step 1: Using the magazine that you chose, tear out about 15 pages. You might have to tear more out as you go. You can try to pick colorful pages so your coaster has many colors and patterns at the end or you could pick out pages with similar colors if you wanted a monochromatic, or one consistent color, coaster.

Step 2: Set one page of the magazine in front of you, and turn it so that the longer side, which was not ripped from the magazine, is facing you. You want to use this side because it is a consistent size and length. Use a ruler to measure ¼ of an inch from the edge of the paper inward and mark it with a pen. Fold the edge of the page over to that ¼ of an inch mark. Continue folding the same strip over 4 times, making sure to keep the size the same on each fold.

Step 3: Now, before you complete the 4th fold, spread the school glue along the whole length of the paper. It should be right where your 4th fold would lay. Once you’ve spread the glue, complete the 4th fold so the strip is now glued to the page. Let it sit for about 5 minutes so the glue can dry. If you feel like it’s still wet, let it sit for another 5 minutes.

Step 4: Cut along the edge of the strip to separate it from the magazine page. Be careful you don’t cut into the strip, only alongside it. Continue making strips just like this on each magazine page. You should make 30 total. Make sure they are all dry before continuing on to the next step.

Step 5: Next, unfold a paper clip so it is long and straight. You can do only one side of it, you don’t need to unfold the whole thing. Wrap your first strip of paper tightly around the paperclip. You’ll have to keep a tight hold on the clip and folds so they don’t unwind as you are wrapping the strip around. If you’re having trouble keeping the rolls tight, you can use your fingers to pinch the paper as you wind the strips.

Step 6: Once you get to the end of your strip, place a small bead of hot glue right where the end of the strip will lay. Press the strip into the glue and hold for a few seconds so it stays.

Step 7: Then, we’re going to start on the next strip. To do this, you’ll place another bead of hot glue directly next to the end of your first strip. Press a new strip onto that glue, and make sure that the ends of each strip are flush against each other. Just like before, hold it tight between your fingers for a couple of seconds to a minute to make sure it drys.

Step 8: Once that strip is glued on, you can continue winding it around the coaster. The easiest way to do this for me is by holding the coaster in my left hand and spinning it while I use my pointer finger and thumb on my right hand to guide the strip around the coaster. At some point, it will be easier to slide the paper clip out of the center and just hold the coaster in a more natural way. You can decide when to take that out, but probably wait until after you have established a good-sized circle that you can hold easily. Continue doing this until your coaster is as big as you’d like it. When you get to your last strip, glue it down as you did with all the rest.

Step 9: Now that your coaster is the size you like, we’ll have to glue it on the corkboard. This is so that it will not be ruined by condensation or spills from the drinks you set on it. Lay the coaster on top of the corkboard sheet and trace around it using a pen.

Step 10: Cut out the circle and trim the edges so it looks nice and smooth. Lay your coaster on top to make sure you like the way they look together. If you’re not happy with the size, try to trace it a bit wider than the coaster and then trim it down after it’s cut out. Squeeze a couple of lines of glue onto the corkboard. Make sure you get enough glue all around the whole piece so you can be sure the two pieces will stick together. Press your coaster into the glue, and hold it there for a couple of minutes until it drys.

Tip: When you set a drink on this, flip it over so the cork is on top. When it’s just being used for decoration, keep the pretty colorful side facing up!

Now that your coaster is done, you’re ready to host your first get-together! You can always paint it or add other decorations to make it feel more unique. Usually, people have a set of matching coasters, so if you feel like it, you can make a couple more. I like to use them around my apartment. Where do you think you’ll use them?

~ Made By: Emily H.