Crafty Reuse: Four Project for Paper Scraps

Paper accounts for over 40% of the trash we produce here in the U.S. That is a crazy amount of waste! Rather than tossing junk mail, newspaper, or any other paper scraps into the trash or recycle bin, you might consider giving those materials a brand new life with one of these fun tutorials:

  1. Over at Absinthe and Orange, you can learn how to create this beautiful recycled wall art (pictured above). She used sheet music, but I bet other scrap paper would have stunning results, too.
  2. Jackie has a simple, fun tutorial for making recipe cards out of brown paper bags. Paper bags are a wonderful weight for other projects, too. Recycled greeting cards, anyone?
  3. This recycled paper flower garland at the Crafty Crow is a great way to use up old magazines. You could make a bunch and string them together or create a few large flowers to hang in a pretty cluster.
  4. Got lots of small, skinny scraps? Julie’s paper bowl tutorial would be perfect. This would be really pretty with a nice mix of paper, like different sorts of junk mail.

These awesome projects just scratch the surface….we’d love to hear about your recycled paper craft adventures in the comments.

[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Absinthe and Orange]

Written by Becky Striepe

My name is Becky Striepe (rhymes with “sleepy”), and I am a crafts and food writer from Atlanta, Georgia with a passion for making our planet a healthier, happier, and more compassionate place to live. My mission is to make vegan food and crafts accessible to everyone!. If you like my work, you can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, and .

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  1. I’m currently making some notebooks / art books out of recycled materials. I’m covering the covers from old diaries with scraps of fabric or wrapping paper and then making the pages inside from office scrap.

  2. I’m currently making some notebooks / art books out of recycled materials. I’m covering the covers from old diaries with scraps of fabric or wrapping paper and then making the pages inside from office scrap.

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