top of page

Creative uses for marbled paper

So many fun ways to use this decorative paper

As promised in the previous post, I endeavored to give the paper I marbled a chance to come out of the folder I was keeping it in, and be on display by using it to embellish some recycled/repurposed objects and materials. Huge quantities of materials end up in the "Recycle" bins in our neighborhood daily, and all one can hope for is that most of those materials do actually get recycled.


I for one, tend to hold on to boxes and containers, especially ones on the smaller size, as in the case of Altoids boxes (see "Bookbinding on the Go"), thinking that there's always a possibility for some future use. And so it was easy to pull out from my "stash" a shipping tube, the box my new phone came in, and a cigar box from 30 years ago from my friend Cecil.



Now that we live in a small apartment, I had to reduce my "stash" considerably, but still found enough for the project.



The tools needed are very basic: an X-acto knife, pencil, ruler, a cutting mat or a heavy board, and some glue and a brush for spreading it. I use PVA but regular Elmer's glue will work too.



Some clamps come handy when pieces need held in place while the glue sets. Paper clips, clothes pins and rubber bands will work too, since there's not a lot of pressure required.


The four finished projects


The cigar box will now hold the "treasures" I pick on the beach, the shipping tube was turned into a pencil case, and the box the phone was in, after major "surgery", became a container for my watercolor brushes. I also used a strip of colorful "stone pattern" paper to embellish a journal bound using the Japanese stitch binding.


The examples I give here are by no means all one can do, for the possibilities for using marbled paper are limited only by one's imagination. With Christmas approaching, I can see all kinds of projects to be made, from decorations and ornaments to small gifts wrapped in special paper, and the list can go on...

An origami crane made of marbled paper

26 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

ความคิดเห็น


bottom of page