Recycled gift bows: yellow pages version | How About Orange

February 22, 2011

Recycled gift bows: yellow pages version

Here's a less pointy variation of the magazine gift bow. I used the yellow pages this time.

Cut 1" wide strips from pages removed from a phone book. Stacking several sheets and slicing them lengthwise with a paper cutter or rotary cutter is quickest. If you are one of the three people who still use the yellow pages, make sure you don't remove any sections you might need someday, like Clowns or Paternity. (Yes, those are real.)

Cut 5 or 6 full-length strips, depending on how full you'd like the bow to be. Cut 4 strips that are 3" shorter. Save one of the leftover short ends to use in the center of the bow.

Form each strip into an "eight" shape, securing the ends in the center with tape. (The photo above shows five shorter loops, but I ended up using only four.) Make a loop with one of the 3" leftover ends.

Arrange the longer pieces evenly to form a circle and staple it in the center. Swinging open the stapler helps position it without squashing the loops.

Repeat with the shorter set of loops. Then layer the smaller piece on top of the larger piece and staple them together in the center. Attach the single loop to the center with a piece of double-stick tape.

46 comments:

Lil Mama Stuart said...

haha way to use that useless waste of space (and trees!)why do they even print them anymore?!?

tinajo said...

I REALLY like how these looks - thanks for sharing! :-)

Care said...

love!!!

Grandma G said...

Too bad they don't make them "orange pages", huh? I bet they'd get read more then! ;)

Mum

Andrea said...

There were some projects for giftbows in GreenCraft magazine I wanted to try, but they didn't have any visual step-by-step instructions. Thanks for posting your very helpful tutorial!

Amanda said...

cute! :)

Ashley said...

I love these!

Jessica at Me Sew Crazy said...

adorable. Great way to recycle :)

Tami said...

I loved the magazine version, but I think I like this one even more!

Shirley said...

I'm pinning this! :) love it!

Lindy said...

I loved the magazine version. We did it as a project with my MOPS group. They are just so cute!

Mervi said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Thelma said...

I have just retrieved the old Yellow Pages out of the recycling bin! What a great idea

Robj98168 said...

very cool. I am on the don't deliver yellow pages list- but still they drop them on my door... now I have a new idea what to do with them!

Anonymous said...

oh! How i love this blog so much! thanks for all the wonderful ideas.

cati

Bonjour! said...

,,,oh so cleaver and cute,,,i shall seek 'n find yellow pages and make bows!,,,

SARAH said...

oh, I'm glad those books are good for something besides doorstops :) and pretty to boot!

Tina (sk8bettyT) said...

I made these at Christmas out of scraps of wrapping paper to coordinate with the paper on the boxes and gifts. It was a ton of fun and best of all, free! I love the tutorials you give here!

jaclyn @ thelateafternoon said...

what a great way to transform "junk mail" and paper scraps. i'm all for recycling, especially when it looks as good as these bows!

Chandeen @ Designed by Chance said...

What a great tutorial. I will have to try this for my next gift.

able mabel said...

I adore this!!! I'm going to try it out.

Renee said...

Thanks! I've got a little girl's birthday tomorrow and now I have a cute way of wrapping the present. I used pink paper though 'cause I couldn't find my Yellow Pages!

Kristy said...

this & the magazine bows. LOVE THEM

Bek said...

Ah! I get a few of these every year and we end up recycling them or tossing them in the trash. This is a way better use for them!

Elsa said...

read the first comment and just wanted to say that I love using the yellow pages for all sorts of things (besides looking up phone numbers)! great for wiping extra glue off the tool your using when doing mosaics with paper (what I use them mostly for) and you can just tear that piece off when used up. Never thought of making bows tho, thanks so much for the idea!

Danielle said...

Those are adorable! And with the number of old yellow books lying around, you could have bows in stock forever. They're well done, too, they look nice.

Miki said...

Awe, these are so cool! Thanks for the idea! ;)

Miki.

Lisa said...

Looks fab, thanks for the idea!

Lisa x

Lisa Brown said...

GREAT idea! I'll have to share this with my paper crafting club!

Unknown said...

you are such a genius.. Hey this is a lot more un-like your orange paper bow last time ! You rock !~

poppy said...

neat idea, I just got a bunch of old medical text books that would work for this




http://leftrightconfused.blogspot.com/

Katy @ Lolly Linens said...

Love it! Thank you for sharing.

Aynex Mercado said...

Ask and you shall receive! Thanks for the great idea. Now I'm going to be using yellow pages on everything...

Maria said...

Super cute!

Susanne said...

That reminds me...I made a magazine page bow at Christmas-meant to make more, but you know, time- and my mom was so proud, she kept it. It sits in the kitchen now, and she told my sister, "You know, Susanne made that."

PEACHES said...

Very cool! I have a dictionary just waiting for its day in the sun!

Unknown said...

I love these bows and use them all the time! When you have a moment, browse your local thrift store and grab some sheet music, they make super awesome bows!
Oriental take out menus rock too!
/PS, I love your blog TONS :)

Jessica Jones said...

Thanks, Kate! And Susanne, I love that. So cute!

Emily Stacey said...

love these! so easy and so effective! I made some using strips of the kids' paintings, and they looked great :)

Emily Stacey said...

love these! so easy and so effective! I made some using strips of the kids' paintings, and they looked great :)

Oh Gorgeous Baby said...

Gorgeous Idea! Thanks so much for sharing.

Jan - Green Tree Photography said...

Now this is adorable!! Our eco brides would LOVE this! Thanks for sharing.
~Green Tree Photography

Kelsey {las vegas boudoir photographer} said...

Super cute idea!!

Tarheel said...

what about latest version of yellow pages

Aynex Mercado said...

Hey, look what I did!
http://www.aynex.com/blog/2011/06/18/living/a-greener-fathers-day-gift/

Anonymous said...

Love the use of the yellow pages!!! Although some people think as their being useless, think of older people that don't have or don't want to know how to use the computer - or those that can't afford a computer or cell phone...these things are all luxuries so don't mock the use of 'old' things like telephone books!!! Just once - think of others less fortunate that don't have access to these luxuries, after all they come in handy when there is 'no service available!!'