The first order for a magazine rack came through during the covid lockdown. So I decided to hunker down and start working on the rack during the end of June. The client gave me the option of choosing my own colours, so decided to go with a combination of dark and light brown. The light brown was after consultation with Little Miss 😄And I must say I am quite happy with the result.

The base of the rack is made of plywood, and I had drilled holes through the wood. Then it was just a matter of decoupaging paper onto the base, so that the plywood is not visible. The wood base ensured that the magazine rack would be sturdy even if a number of books are placed in it.

I liked the pattern in the lower half of the rack. Would have loved to continue in the top bit too, but I guess that would not have looked that great in the middle. So there, it was a regular weave with 2 tubes of paper.

I must say my weaving skills have improved quite a bit and am quite pleased with the way the magazine holder has turned out. Obviously, there are a few mistakes, but nothing glaringly obvious. And I am sure I would get better with a little more practise. What say?

Overall, this has been a fun bit of work and I am truly grateful that the client trusted me with the whole project. I am also supposed to make a pen holder and a tissue holder that goes along with the rack. I will soon get cracking on that!

Stay Home Stay Safe! Who would have thought that a microscopic virus could bring the world virtually to a halt?? While this pandemic has had a terrible impact around the globe, it is during the lockdown that I have been able to connect with friends from long back, get back into my blogging, work on some incomplete projects.

One of the projects is this newspaper weaving project - Making coasters from newspaper tubes, using the root weaving or coiling technique. I was kinda bored of circular shapes, so attempted something a little different. Not sure how well it turned out, but I can say for certain that the coasters are rock solid.

The holder was a last minute idea, since I had plenty of rolls left over. Turned out pretty useful too, since I didn't end up losing a coaster or two, just because they were left lying around! The edges of the holder leaves a lot to be desired and even now, I am not too sure how to go about making this, but hopefully in the future, it will get better.

On the whole, I am happy with the outcome.

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Coasters with Holder

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

 

Here is another of my newspaper weaving trials - a tissue holder shaped like a snail! A couple of years back, I had tried a pot holder shaped like a snail. And had been quite happy with the way it had turned out. So, this is my next attempt to use a snail shape in my weaving. Can't say I have succeeded quite well this time! 

Anyway, my lessons learnt - need to make it bigger next time, so that the entire tissue fits in well! 

Notice in the background, my pot holder from my last post? Complete with its pot?? Quite liked how it turned out 😄

 

Given the intense newspaper weaving session from the last post, I decided to do something a little simpler. So here is my pair of pot holders, made in aqua and white - the colours of my parents' living room. For quite some time now, they have been asking me to weave them something that goes with their room colours. And for a looong time now, I have been putting it off - mainly because I wasn't too sure that I would do justice to their aesthetically pleasing room! 

 So finally, after much deliberation, I decided to try out a couple of pot holders, to be kept over their piano, along with a candle stand in the same colour combination. Since I needed a pair, I used the exact opposite colours, in the same pattern. 

I am quite pleased with the way it has turned out. The centre portion, made from a single tube that is twisted around the base tube, was something new. While this is not always even, I quite like the effect produced. I believe I will use the same pattern in a few more weaves in the future!

A few months back, I had made a leaf-shaped tray using the technique of coiling with newspaper tubes. I decided to revisit the tray, this time using wood-stained tubes, the same ones I had used for this box with lid. This tray is bigger than my previous attempt, measuring about 15 inches at the longest length.

I had sprayed the tubes with water mixed with a little fabric softener, about half an hour before I started weaving. This resulted in very flexible tubes that did not break or crack while weaving. I will try out other methods of coating the tubes as I make other objects using the same technique.

Very happy with how even the weaving turned out. The closeup of the tray brings that out very well.

Finally tried out a new finish. I came across this style of finishing the edges, during my usual perusals on Pinterest and was quite fascinated by this. I feel this style is much better than the usual edging. This gives a very professional look to the product and has a very leathery appearance. I messed up the ending, but I have learnt from that and should do better next time.

Model Details:

Model: Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube 

Tutorial for the edge: Youtube

More newspaper weaving, this time using magazine rolls. I had rolled up these tubes in the fond hope of making a pen holder. But for one reason or the other, I never got around to making them. So finally, thanks to new year resolutions, I decided to use them to make another attempt at coiling or root weaving.

This time, I decided to try out a rectangular shape, so that I could make it into a tray instead of a pencil holder. I had no particular idea of how big or how long the tray should be. I just coiled till I was happy with the size and till the tubes lasted!

The shape is a little wonky. As you can see, one side is a little larger than the other. But other than that, I think it a fairly good attempt.

The plus point of using magazine tubes is that the end result is very colourful and more cheerful than newspaper tubes that are painted a single colour! The end result is to be sent to a dear friend of mine, who had been asking me to sell one of my newspaper projects. I think this colourful tray will be a good addition to my friend's desk 💖

Model Details:

Model: Tray 

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

 

How about that?? I ended up making a very cute little duckling which also served a purpose! This is a little container that I made for my daughter Little Missy. She uses this to store little trinkets and is delighted with how tiny and "kawai" it is! 

I actually had a few sticks left over, after completing a recent project, so wanted to use those remaining sticks. And well, this was the size I could make without having to roll and paint new ones! So a duckling instead of a duck! I should addceyes, I guess, but I thought it looked good even now, no? 

Another first for me is that I have woven this as a free form, that is, I usually have a base form over which I weave. But I wanted to see how it went without a form and I think it has come out fairly well.

Model Details:

Model: Duckling shaped container

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

So, after the last post on all the popular origami from last year, I realised that newspaper weaving was lagging behind. So I decided to try and complete at least 12 projects of newspaper weaving this year.

With that goal in mind, this is my first attempt - a newspaper woven little jewellery box with a lid. This is the first time I am attempting a proper lid, which will fit the box. My last attempt was rather rudimentary and I was not at all happy with that. While this is a definite improvement, I have ways to go before I can be really happy with this.

As is evident, this was also woven using the coiling technique. I guess I will attempt a few more projects using the same method. These tubes were coloured dark brown, using wood stain.

 Model Details:

Model: Coiled Box with lid

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

Merry Christmas 2019, dear blog readers! 

It feels like the year had just begun and we are already at the end and looking forward to a new decade! Time does fly, doesn't it? 

Anyway, in the Christmas tradition, I decided to do something in the traditional colours of green and red. I had rolled a number of newspaper tubes some time back and had been wondering on the project to work on. So I decided to go ahead with the new style of weaving that I have been trying out these days. In case you, dear reader, haven't had an opportunity to see what I have been up to, do check out this blue leaf tray that I had done a few months back. Also check out the previous box and lid, done using the same red/green tubes. 

This style of newspaper weaving, called coiling or root-weaving, is tedious but results in really cool newspaper products that are absolutely eye-catching! The weave is without any form, so it is with some trial and error that I manage to do this style of free-form weaving. 

This bowl or rather, tray is about 7.5 inches in diameter and made entirely from newspaper tubes, coloured red and green. As with my previous blue tray attempt, here too, I attempted to paint both plain tubes and tubes with print still visible. Since the colours were both dark ones, I was able to obliterate most of the print after painting the tubes twice. With a single coat of paint, the colour is not very rich and the print is clearly visible. But with a second coat, the colour also becomes richer and most of the font are pretty much invisible! And what little is visible, is hardly seen in this style of weaving anyway! So that was a good discovery for me.

In total, to make this bowl, I have used a total of 50 plain green tubes, 25 green tubes with print visible, 100 plain red tubes and 30 red tubes with print visible. And as expected, with this style of dense weaving, the end product is very robust and strong. A coat of polyurethene and I have an absolutely amazing product!

So what do you think?

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Christmas Bowl

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

I have rolled up tubes for a Christmas project but before that, decided to try out a little box with lid using the red/green combination. I have tried this method before, when I made a blue tray, but since it's been a long time since I did that, this box and lid is kind of a refresher course for me 😀

I liked the way this box came out. I added a little ring to the lid so that it is easy to open the box. The overall size is about 4 inches in diameter and about 3 inches in height.

The problem I faced was making a little indent for the lid so that it doesn't slide off easily. I am still to  figure out how to weave the lid. For this box, all I did was stick a couple of tubes to form the indent.

For this box, instead of using white tubes, I used tubes with print, painted red and green. In the close up shot, a little bit of the print is still visible, but of course, this cannot be avoided. I think the only colour which will completely obliterate the print is black.

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Box with lid

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

After the strenuous coiled or root-woven tray from my last post, I was more than happy to try out this acorn box made from black newspaper tubes.

I have been trying out various acrylic colours which will completely blot out any print in my newspaper tubes. For the lighter colours, I have no choice but to use white or mostly-white tubes. Otherwise the print is very obviously visible and I just don't like it. As a consequence, I find that I am left out with a  lot of tubes that have newspaper print/coloured pictures on them.

One way to go is to use them as-is and weave my boxes with the print and pictures visible in the end product. I find that there are a lot of people who like this and I have had some orders where I have been specifically asked to use the newspaper tubes without any colours added.

On the other hand, I have also been experimenting with dark colours that I can use on these tubes, to hide the print, and the very best colour is, of course, black. Other than black, dark blue, prussian blue, deep red and dark green also work well.

So for my acorn box, I have used black tubes to form the base and the lid. The base was woven with a form, which was a plastic bowl of the required size. I tried out a 3-strand weaving, which I liked very much. The lid started off as a flat plate, with the edges turned down to convert into a lid. I added the little knob at the very end.

Model Details:

Model: Black Acorn Box

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

One of the traditional methods of basket-weaving involves a technique called coiling. This technique combines a process of coiling materials such as grass and binding them together using flexible fibres.

The same process can be applied to tubes made from newspaper or magazines. Here the tubes are used in both the processes - they are wound and held together by other tubes. I first came across this technique of weaving in Pinterest and have since been fascinated by the method.

When I got an opportunity to try it out, I first attempted it using newspaper tubes. Needless to say, it wasn't much of a success! My coiling was loose and the tubes that held the coils together were not placed close enough to give a tight weave. And once you fail, even in something like craft work, it takes a lot of courage to get back on the proverbial horse, doesn't it?

So, after many months and with a lot of hesitation, I tried out this blue tray, in the shape of a leaf. The tubes are made from newspaper strips, around 10 mm in width and 260 mm in length, rolled around a 2mm skewer. I painted it prussian blue, since that was the colour I had in abundance! This time, since I knew what to expect, I was able to coil much better. Overall, it gave me much better results than my first attempt. The shaping is still a problem and that takes more practise I guess. On the whole, I am quite pleased with this attempt.

While this technique is more challenging than regular weaving, the result if much more pleasing. But I would not attempt this type of weaving unless I had a lot of time, because without doubt, it is much more time-consuming that the regular weaving that I do. This tray took me a good 3 days to complete! And that is just the coiling part. Time taken for rolling the tubes, painting and glazing the final product also needs to be considered.

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Blue Leaf Tray

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

Shades of Blue is my current version of the bowl that I had initially tried out a few days back. I am very pleased with the way this bowl has turned out. The base of smoother than my previous efforts and the weaving is much improved, even if it is not where I want it to be!

As in my previous attempt, I went ahead with a gradation in colour. The paper I have used is without any print, so the lighter colours have turned out clear and without any marking. For the darker blue, of course, the tubes with print works just as well as the tubes without print, since the print is barely visible.

To achieve a more graded colour change, I weaved a couple of rows with a mix of dark and light blue, before switching to the lighter colour. I like the effect this produces.

The side view gives a good view of the rim of the bowl. The weaving pattern is the same as the base (tutorial link at the end of the post). The rim is harder to weave than the base, because it is narrower than the base. But that gives a fuller and smoother appearance I thought. What do you think?

The bottom of the bowl is by far, my favourite part of this project! I love the evenness of the base and I think I have much improved in this one area. Of course, this is the part that is lease visible! 😆😆 But that doesn't stop me from admiring my improved attempts!! 😂😂

So what do you think? Do you like it? Should I try other colours? Do drop a comment 😀

Model Details:

Model: Woven Bowl - Shades of Blue

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Picture Tutorial for the thick rimmed bottom: Stranamasterov

My second attempt at making a bowl was a better success I think! I have been repeatedly told that the tubes in which the print is visible, are much more unique in appearance. So I went ahead with printed tubes which were coloured in shades of blue.

The base started off with a deep blue, which forms the rim of the bowl. As in my previous post, the base is formed using the same method. One thing I noticed is that, the deeper the colour, the lesser the print is visible.

I had used 3 shades of blue. Deep blue at the base, a lighter version in the middle and finally, a light blue to finish it off. The finish needs some work and hopefully this will become better in the subsequent attempts!

Once the bowl was complete, since I had some more tubes, I decided to go ahead and make a pen stand. This turned out quite sturdy and useful.

Finally, a coating of varnish to strengthen and protect the pieces and I am all set!

After doing quite a bit of newspaper weaving, I tried my hand at magazine art. In both kinds of art, the principle remains the same - reusing old paper to create new objects. So paper from magazines and newspapers can be rolled in the same way, to form long paper tubes. These paper tubes can then be used in a  variety of ways.

In the case of newspaper weaving, since the paper is not very glossy, it is more conducive to colouring and weaving. Magazine paper is glossy, shiny paper, so colouring the paper is very difficult. And in any case, the glossy print stands out without the addition of any colours. But of course, given the shiny nature, it is quite difficult to weave using this paper. So I decided to convert the magazine tubes into pen holders.

The process for making the pen holders is pretty easy - glue the tubes to form a long rectangular strip and then roll it around a cardboard base to form a pen stand. But the process is quite tedious and quite time consuming. The pen-stands though, are really eye catchy!

Well, that was my bit to save the environment 😃 I think any one can give it a go. And end up with unique, handmade pen stands which make great gifts as well. Please gift only to those who appreciate handmade things though.. Else, it is just a waste of time!

When it comes to newspaper weaving, I tend to colour the tubes before I start weaving. But for a change, I attempted a weave with the newspaper print still visible. I saw an apple container while surfing the net and decided to have a go at it. And this was the result.

The start of the apple container and lid was done using black newspaper tubes. And the rest was made of regular newspaper tubes - no colour. As much as possible, I went for plain print without any pictures and other colours.

I love the way the stalk came out. Wetting the tubes before winding it works wonders and prevents cracking. The leaf also came out great. While the container was nothing unusual, the lid was done differently. To give an apple-like shape, after winding the stalk, there is a dip and then the lid is formed. Well, the dip came out well, but the lid turned out to be slightly skewed.

I added a little decoupage to the container. And that too turned out great I think.

I thought it came out great for a first attempt, but clearly there is still work to be done. 

In recent days, I have been experimenting with newspaper weaving. So what exactly is newspaper weaving? In this art, we roll up newspaper strips into tubes, paint the tubes using acrylic colours and then weave the tubes into various shapes.

Easy to write, very difficult to do - at least for me! I have been trying out various methods of rolling, painting and weaving the tubes. Have been fairly successful, but if I browse the net for what others have done, I can see exactly how amateurish my attempts look!

But in recent attempts, the output has been pretty good, if I do say so myself! My latest attempt at weaving is this cup and saucer combination, made from lavender and brown tubes. Tutorials abound on the net, both written and video tutes and I have used them as much as possible to finally complete this product. And I must confess, I am quite proud of how it has turned out :)

The saucer measures about 7 inches in diameter, the cup (which is attached to the saucer) has a 5-inch base and measures about 6 inches in height. The toughest part was making the handle, I just couldn't figure out how people got such close loops!! Finally, practise paid off and I managed to shape the handle well.

At the end, I coated the entire thing in a mix of fevicol and water and allowed it to dry overnight. And now I have a good, very sturdy (you would be surprised to see how sturdy newspaper tubes turn out to be!) and pretty cup and saucer set, made entirely from newspaper!

An excellent way to recycle, I think :) 

After my Christmas bells made from newspaper tubes, I have been working with a fair amount of enthusiasm, on a rather large project! Making a trash can!!

It has been a fairly large project for me, because everything about this is new! I am new to newspaper weaving, so rolling the tubes itself is a challenge. The shape I have chosen is also new - till date, I have only attempted round structures, so a square is another challenge. Then there is the painting - as you can see, I have used lavender, green and white tubes. The white tubes were tricky because they weren't as bright white as I wanted them to be; hopefully I will get there in my next few attempts. Finally, I am not sure how clear it is, but I have used lavender/white paper beads around the middle of the basket. For some time I had the feeling that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but finally, I managed to complete the basket 😀 And really really proud of what I have done. I do realise there are a lot of faults, but at least I completed it!! So yay me!!

Model Details:

Model: Woven waste basket

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Model Size: ~15 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube 

I am sure most of us have tried our hand at weaving paper mats, at least when we were kids. I have made quite a few paper mats and then moved on to making little bowls by using the same technique.

Recently, my sister-in-law, whose office is eco-friendly, wanted me to try using newspapers to make an eco-friendly waste paper basket for her office. It appealed to me very much, so I got to work folding newspaper sheets into thick strips to form the basis for my woven basket. Unfortunately, the end wasn't very appealing!

I searched around for another way and with Youtube to my rescue, finally figured out how to roll newspaper tubes and use these as the basic material for making my basket. This tutorial gave me a good start. I made a bowl initially and since that turned out quite fine, I then made a basket.

As per instructions from my daughter, Little Miss, I coated the finished products with a layer of glue/water mix - apparently that is how it is done in some of the art shows that she watches on TV! The end result was a very stable, recycled, eco-friendly bowl/basket, that is great for storing a variety of things. I am yet to make the waste basket though!