Well, well, well, it appears that I have completed 2 newspaper weaving projects in a month! This was yet another order that I had received. And I must say I was initially tempted to say no! I mean, I have never worked on a tissue holder, my magazine racks to-date were not really a success, so I was not sure I would be able to pull it off. But finally, after much research on Youtube and Pinterest and quite a few trials, I am done with it 😊

Of the three, the magazine rack was definitely the toughest. I started off with a plywood base with holes drilled every 2 cms. Walnut wood stained newspaper tubes formed the vertical racks. After that, it was just a matter of mixing the green and lavender tubes to form the pattern.

The pen holder was quite easy - circular base, raised the side tubes and used green and lavender to complete the sides. The tissue holder was a challenge because I have never done one before. I think I can improve on this in my next attempt. I added a little handle to hold the 2 sides and to keep the tissues in place.

Couldn't resist posting yet another picture of the magazine rack. I covered the plywood base with brown wallpaper to give it a more professional look. A closer look will give a better view of the base. 

Happy New Year 2018! 365 new days, 365 new opportunities. Here's to hoping that we make good use of it. 

My first project this year is a woven magazine holder. This project has been in the works for a couple of months now - mainly because I wanted a very sturdy base, so that the holder would not topple over once a few magazines were placed. So after trying out a woven base followed by a cardboard base, I finally decided to use a wooden base - got a carpenter to cut out a 10 inches by 4 inches plywood and drill holes into it. I spaced the holes 1.5 cms apart. Then I covered it will some pretty paper that I had from one of my old origami projects. I hope you are able to make out the lined based in the pictures below. 

Naturally I used the colours from the base for the tubes as well - cream, light green and pink. The cream was the dominant colour and the light green was sparingly used. 

I also wanted to try out different types of weaving, so I ended up using this opportunity to do just that. The bottom most weave is the standard Rope Weave. This is the one that is the easiest for me. And I think this comes out the best, if I say so myself :) 

The next layer is for the Cotton Weave. This is generally the easiest weave. The one that everyone tries out first. But for some reason, I still haven't got the hang of this one! And I am still not comfortable with the weave. 

The third layer is a type of Openwork Weave. Not clear on the name. I used a mix of green and cream for this layer. This weave looks much better if this is the only pattern used, but mixed amidst all the other layers, I guess it loses the appeal. 

Finally, the last layer is the reverse rope layer. Since I needed to go back and forth with weaving this layer, this seemed the most practical. 

Tutorial links: 

Rope Weaving

Cotton Weaving

Openwork Weaving

I guess my post has been sufficiently long for the first post of the new year! Hope I get to make many more of these holders :)