Upcycling magazines to create envelopes

Upcycling magazines to create envelopes

On 16th March 2021 we organized a workshop in which we upcycled old fashion magazines and turned them into colorful envelopes. The aim of this workshop was to teach the users a new way of using old paper products. 

We started by having  a discussion about paper waste. The users named paper products that they regularly buy. Some of them read the daily newspapers, while others buy monthly issues of fashion and lifestyle magazines. We asked the users what happens after they finish reading the magazine. Most of them answered that they just store the magazines and newspapers in their home and after a few months throw them away. We introduced many upcycling ideas for them to try before choosing to discard the paper. We proposed to the users to make colorful collages which they could hang on the walls to easily decorate empty bedroom walls, we showed them a simple technique they can use to create coasters and during the workshop we focused on creating colorful envelopes. 

We had an assortment of magazines which the users could flip through. They chose to use the most colorful pages so that the envelopes could catch everybody’s eye. During the magazine flip through we discussed some of the magazine topics which we found interesting. Once we cut out the magazine pages, we traced an envelope stencil over the paper and used scissors to cut  the envelope stencil out of the magazine paper. After that we folded the paper to make the envelope and glued the edges. Many of the users chose to cut out small pictures from the magazines and used them to create a “stamp”. When the envelopes were done, we used colored paper to write a greeting card or a letter to a close person in our lives and revised the proper ways to start and end a letter. Once the letters were done, we put them in the envelopes we created. At the end everyone got to share their impressions about the workshop and explain what the letter they wrote was about.