Recycle your old catalogs and magazines into a stunning piece of wearable art! Colorful pages become a beautiful necklace in this trash-to-treasure activity. Kids will love choosing the color, pattern, and size of each unique bead to customize their jewelry to their unique personalities. The possibilities are endless!
What You Need:
- Old catalogs and magazines
- Dental floss
- Scissors
- Clear glue
- Toothpicks
What You Do:
- Prepare a protected work surface by laying newspaper across a table.
- Have your child choose pages from catalogs and magazines with colors that appeal to her.
- Once she has a good selection, your child can cut the pages into strips. A variety of sizes is desirable. The strips should range from ¼ inch to 2 inches wide and 4 inches to 7 inches long. This will make the beads different sizes and add interest to the finished necklace.
- To begin, place one strip of paper with the colorful side face down on the work surface.
- Place a toothpick at the short end of the strip.
- Roll the strip of paper around the toothpick to form a bead.
- Put a dot of glue on the end of the strip and press down to hold your bead in place. Since you are using clear glue, it doesn’t matter if a bit of glue shows on your bead.
- Set the beads aside to dry. Have your child repeat the process with the other strips of paper until she has as many beads as she wants for her necklace.
- Once the beads have dried, your child should carefully remove the toothpicks.
- Let your child choose the length she wants her necklace to be and cut a piece of dental floss to that size, with extra left over for the knot at the end.
- Thread the beads onto the piece of dental floss and tie off the ends. Voila!
Recycled necklaces are a fun and inexpensive project for parties and sleepovers, as well as for an individual crafting project. Start collecting old catalogs and magazines ahead of time or ask family and friends to donate their recycling collections, and you'll be well on your way!
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