I've been wanting to make a recycled paper coaster for some time now but I haven't had the luxury of time to do it, so I took advantage of the free time I had yesterday and decided to make my paper coaster. 

Over the Internet you can see magnificent coasters made from magazines and news papers. Since I'm not subscribed to any magazine and newspaper (I'm reserving the few magazines that I have for  bead-making), I had to use my scrap office paper which I brought home last Wednesday. My coaster looks a little plain and might have been pretty if I used magazines and newspapers.

Anyway, here's the stuff that you'll need to make paper coil

• A bunch of paper. I used 10 sheets of scrap substance 24 bond paper. You might need more paper if your bond paper is thinner
• Scissors
• Glue diluted in water (you can also use PVA Glue or Mod Podge)
• Glue stick (optional)
• Varnish (the only available varnish I could find was plastic varnish)
• A bowl for the the glue diluted in water and varnish (I used the same bowl) 
• Paint brush for brushing the diluted glue and varnish. I recommend using a separate brush for each because the bristles of my brush stuck together after using the varnish. Maybe it's the varnish I used? I dunno.

How to make a paper coil coaster

Cut your paper into quarters, lengthwise

 

Fold a strip in the middle, lengthwise

 

Open the fold and then fold the left edge towards the middle fold. Do the same for the right edge

 

Open the folds and put glue in the middle, then put back the folds.

 

Fold the strip lengthwise and glue together.

 

Continue making 40 strips. Coil the strips one at a time. Glue each piece to the coil.

 

To make a circle coil, tightly wind the the strips together. To make a square coil, begin with a circle coil using 20 strips and then start to loosely coil the strips and then form a square with the egdes after ward.

 

Dilute glue with water using 2 parts glue and 1 part water

 

Brush the glue mixture to the coil to harden it

 

Dry the coil and then apply the varnish.

 

Let the varnish dry over night

 

Testing if it's waterproof - It was!

I made this coil for 4 hours. It took me a long time since I didn't really do it in a hurry. I was just taking my time, trying to perfect the cutting and folding of the strips. There were a few times when I wanted to stop, but I told my self I had to keep on going.

Since my coil is very plain, I might make another one, and paint it orange to match my favorite color. You can also pimp your coil in any way you want. You can add ribbons, strings, or even the magazine-made beads on the edge. Have it any way you want.

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