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.

colorful painted paper frame detail


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.

Colorful painted recycled paper framed mirror

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!

Ann Martin
Ann Martin

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Comments

  1. Lovely handmade paper wall mirror, the colours of her handmade paper are so brilliant.

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  2. Great handmade papers. I like the creative uses to which she puts them.

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  3. I love all your work is Beautiful!
    Greetings Baukje

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  4. I loved the creative idea behind that. Beautiful works...

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  5. A woman after my own heart! Love this.

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  6. Oh Ann it has been so long since I visited you. This is such a clever, creative idea. It is hard to get over the act of cutting the pages up isn't it?
    thanks for sharing
    Lee:)

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  7. So pretty. Love those colors. And I can totally relate about saving pretty paper, even the tiniest scraps of them!

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