Recycled Paper Home Decor by Meg Bollinger

Meg Bollinger's richly colored, handmade papers transform frames, coat racks, mirrors, coasters, and magnets into appealing, functional art. Meg, the owner of Wisconsin-based Etsy shop Calyrew, finds a certain excitement in her work, as she's never sure what the end result will be.

As a little girl, Meg was fascinated with paper - so much so that she wouldn't want to use the special pieces she acquired. (I bet lots of us can relate!) "But once I let go, I found a whole new world. Ahh, paper snowflakes, origami frogs, handmade cards to loved ones, and making awesome paper from my leftovers."

I asked Meg about her process of turning discarded paper into such colorful and useful art pieces.


The plain newsprint (no ink) that I use is packing material you might see instead of Styrofoam peanuts. The process is no real secret; actually it's even very hard for me to duplicate a sheet, which can be a bummer! I paint each sheet randomly once made and dried, using lightfast acrylic paints for fade resistance. There is no sizing applied so I can achieve a watercolor effect. As a last step, I brush on several layers of polyurethane for durability and water resistance.

The name Calyrew by the way, is a combination of letters from each of Meg's children's names - what a nice idea!


Facebook Finds this past week included:

A beautiful stop-motion origami video
Amaze a child with a magic cardboard wallet.

Have a happy 11-11-11!