Recycled Paper Bowls

Recycled Paper Bowls

Start with a newspaper section. You can use several sheets at a time. 

Fold the paper in half like this.

Tear where you folded the paper.

Take one single sheet and open. 

Have the torn side towards you.

I use a paper quilling tool to start rolling the paper into thin reeds. You can find them at any craft store in the paper crafting section. If you don't have this tool, use a toothpick/bamboo skewer, or I've even used a bobby pin.

Start rolling at the corner of the torn edge. This will ensure that the torn edge is rolled inside and the nice smooth edge is on the outside.

Roll until you can no longer use the tool. Remove the tool and continue to roll by hand.

Keep rolling the paper and try to keep it tightly rolled.

Add glue to the corner to keep your paper reed together. You will want to make 10-15 paper reeds to start with.

Flatten your paper reeds. I ran a pencil over mine to flatten.

Connect the flattened paper reeds by placing the thin end of one into the wider end of another. Use a glue stick on both sides of the thinner end.

Connect all of your paper reeds and allow the glue to dry.

Start rolling the flattened reeds into a coil. Keep going until you have reached the desired diameter you want for your bowl. Hot glue the end flat to the coil. Start shaping your bowl by gently pushing down the center with your thumbs and pulling outer edges up. Go slowly! You don't want to pull the layers too far because your bowl will unravel. If this happens...roll it up again and try one more time. :)

This small bowl was made from about 10 reeds and it 4 inches in diameter.

Here are a few examples waiting to be sealed. I place my unfinished bowl on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Here you can see examples of how you can adjust the design. One of the bowls has a bottom made of 6 coils glued together. Each small coil is made from one flattened paper reed. I then glued my long strand of paper to one of the small coils and then started wrapping it around to make my bowl.

To seal your creations, apply two coats of a mixture of half white glue and half water. You must make this solution so that the glue can get between the layers to hold the shape. Coat the inside and then flip it over to coat the outside. As soon as the first coat is dry to the touch you can go ahead and add a second coat.

Here I got creative and added a coating of glitter to the outside only of one of my bowls. I did this after my second coat of glue mixture. If you add glitter you will need to add a third coat of glue mixture so the glitter sticks.

For the final step you need to add two coats of clear varnish. I prefer the traditional liquid varnish because it dries without any scent. The spray gloss coating also works just as well, but I've found that the brand I tried has a chemical smell that does not go away.