Fun Idea for Upcycling retired Stampin Up catalogues

I have seen lots of people asking what they do with old and retired Stampin Up catalogues. They are full of brightly coloured pages and it seems such a waste to throw them away. If like me you end up with several of the same catalogue and have kept one for posterity but don't know what to do with the others then this idea is for you.

I made a lovely bin with a lid. This is used in my bathroom and holds two toilet rolls. Now you could make any size you want depending how much patience and time you have. So how do you make it?  Well you need one annual catalogue or a couple of occasions catalogues, some pva glue, scissors and a knitting needle, wooden skewer or any other long round stick. Take one sheet of catalogue paper and roll it diagonally from one point to the other round the skewer. Glue the last couple of inches so that it forms a tube that won't unravel.

Once you have a few rolled poke one end into the end of another and glue together firmly. What you are making is a long string of tubed paper, large a large ball of wool. Once you have done about 30/40 pages like this you can begin making your bin. For the base roll your tubes tightly round each other gluing as you go until you have made a flat circular base the size you want for the base of your bin. Glue over the top to ensure it stays together and then leave overnight to dry hard. While you wait you can be making some more tubes for the side and lid.

For the sides start at the edge of your base and start to glue and build the sides. Again glue the whole thing when finished and allow to dry overnight. For the lid do same as base and make a smaller circle for a knob to lift your lid off.

When finished you can give it a wash with some reinker watered down, add it to your pva glue if you need more stability to your bin and choose colour to tone in with whatever room your bin will go. I used whisper white as gave a nice distressed look.

This is a fun project but does take time so don't rush.