DIY Life

I enjoy magazines, even though there happens to be an abundance of them in my house. At last count, there were over 1500 magazines. While I am a clutter bug, they happen to be inventory, thank you very much. Maybe someday I'll get around to listing them for sale.

In the off chance that I don't get them up for sale, I think that recycling them into drink coasters is an excellent idea. I didn't find any instructions, so I followed all the links and found that you can make placemats, bowls, and magazine boxes too. A Little Hut has great instructions on how to make magazine bowls, and I believe you can use the author's instructions to make any item that you want to, and save the environment too. On the other hand, if you want to save those magazines, read Debra McDuffee's post on making magazine storage boxes.

How many times do you find yourself eating food off the kitchen table, while staring in confusion at the bin of dusty, vinyl records sitting in the corner, and thinking to yourself, "I wonder if I could sell all these old LPs and buy some nice bowls and plates?" Well, think again, pal, because those old records won't fetch more than a quarter at your local pawn shop. But don't give up hope yet! Why not turn your old record collection into your new funky dinnerware collection?! With a little spare time and oven heat, you could be eating salad out of a Bread (the band) bowl in no time!

Bend some bowls
This video gives a great step-by-step tutorial on how to turn your records into bowls. It's really quite simple: preheat your oven, flip an oven-safe bowl upside down on a cookie sheet, place your vinyl record on top of the upside down bowl, allow it to slowly bend itself over the bowl, pull the record out of the oven, form it inside the bowl, allow it to cool, and voila, you've got yourself a perfectly functioning bowl (with a small hole in the bottom).

Ply some plates
If it's plates you're after, try a slightly modified version of this ReadyMade tutorial. Instead of shaping your LP into a bowl after you pull it out of the oven, just raise the edges enough to form a simple plate. After allowing the record to cool against a flat surface, you'll have yourself a fully-functional plate (with a small hole in the bottom).

With both the bowl and the plate, you'll want to be wary about what you put on or in them. If you stick something really hot on one of your new plates, you'll run the risk of warping it, and overly saucy items might make the label peel off, which could end up being devoured with whatever else you're eating. For the time being, you might want to use these items as strictly decoration pieces.