Caskets made of newspaper tubes: how to do it yourself?

Materials and tools
Weaving methods

Often recently we have seen very beautiful wicker boxes, boxes, baskets on sale. At first glance, it seems that they are woven from willow twigs, but, taking such a product in our hands, we feel its weightlessness and airiness. It turns out that all this is made by hand from ordinary newspapers. With minimal cost and due diligence, each of us can weave a box from paper tubes.

Materials and tools

For work we need:

newspapers or other thin paper;
knitting needle or wooden skewer for twisting paper tubes;
a clerical knife, scissors, or any other sharp tool for cutting paper into strips;
glue (any is possible, but the quality of the craft largely depends on its fixing properties, therefore it is best to use PVA glue);
paints (their types are described below);
acrylic lacquer;
paint brushes;
clothespins for fixing gluing points.

Weaving methods

The most popular are boxes with a round bottom, therefore, a step-by-step master class on their creation will be given below.

For a round box, we need about 230 tubes. To make them, it is necessary to cut each newspaper into strips approximately five centimeters wide. This can be done with a clerical knife, folding the newspapers into a neat pile, or you can cut each one with scissors. Choose a method that is more convenient for you. If the box is light in color, then it is best to take newsprint or other thin paper, since the letters of the printed product will show through the paint.

Place a knitting needle or a wooden skewer on a newspaper strip at an angle of forty-five degrees. (if the angle is larger, it will be inconvenient to work with the tube, since it will turn out to be too rigid and will break when bent; and if the angle is less, the density of the tube will turn out to be small, as a result, it will break during weaving). Holding the edge of the newspaper with your fingers, you need to twist a thin tube. Smear the top edge with glue and press firmly. Release the skewer or knitting needle by pulling one end. Thus, twist all the tubes.

One end must be made slightly wider than the second, so that later, when long tubes are needed, they can be inserted into one another according to the principle of a telescopic fishing rod. If the tubes are obtained with the same diameter at both ends, then to build up you need to flatten the tip of one tube in half lengthwise and insert it into the other by 2-3 cm, without using glue.

The tubes can be dyed immediately, or you can arrange a ready-made box. There are various ways to dye curled products:

acrylic primer (0.5 l) mixed with two spoons of color - this paint makes the tubes more elastic, easier to work with;
water (0.5 l) mixed with two spoons of color and a tablespoon of acrylic varnish;
dye for fabric, diluted in hot water with the addition of sodium chloride and acetic acid - when dyed in this way, the tubes will not break during weaving, and your hands will remain clean;
food colors diluted according to the instructions;
water stain - for uniform staining and prevent brittleness, it is better to add a little primer to the stain;
any water-based paints.

You can dye many tubes at the same time by lowering them into a container with the prepared dye for a few seconds, and then spreading them out to dry on a wire rack, for example, on a dish drainer in one layer.It is necessary to wait until the tubes are completely dry. But it is best to "catch" the moment when they are slightly damp inside. If they are dry, you can use a spray bottle to spray a little air over them. This moisturizing will make the newspaper tubes softer, more pliable, and easier to work with.

You need to start weaving the box from the bottom. There are two manufacturing methods.

It is necessary to cut a circle of the required diameter from cardboard. Along the edges at the same distance from each other, glue 16 tubes-rays, evenly diverging in different directions, and start weaving from step 6.
It is necessary to arrange eight tubes in pairs - so that they intersect in the center (in the form of a snowflake). These paired tubes will be called rays.
5. Place a new newspaper tube under the central part of the craft and wrap it around in turn (in a circle) a pair of rays, increasing it as necessary, as indicated earlier.
6. When seven circles are woven, the rays must be separated from each other so that there are sixteen of them. Just as at the beginning of weaving, put another paper tube down and continue weaving in a circle with a "string". To do this, the first ray must be entwined with newspaper tubes at the same time from above and below. Braiding the second ray, it is necessary to change the position of the newspaper tubes: the one that was below will now wrap the ray from above and vice versa. According to this algorithm, continue working in a circle.
7. When the diameter of the bottom corresponds to the intended size, the working tubes must be glued with PVA glue and fixed with clothespins. And, after waiting for complete drying, remove the clothespins and cut off the working tubes.
8. To continue weaving the craft, you need to raise the rays upward (we will call them further stand-ups). If they are short, build them up. Each stand must be laid from below under the nearby one and bend up. Thus, all 16 stand-up beams must be raised up.
9. To make the box even, it is advisable to put some shape on the finished bottom: a vase, a salad bowl, a plastic bucket, a cylindrical cardboard box, etc.
10. Place a new working tube between the wall of the mold and the stand. Repeat this next to the second stand, taking another tube.
11. Then weave with a "string" to the very top of the box. Weaving with a "string" is described in p. 6. If the box has a pattern, then you need to weave the tubes of the color indicated on your diagram.
12. Having finished the work, the tubes need to be glued, then cut off the unnecessary long ends.
13. The remaining stand-up beams must be bent. To do this, lead the first one behind the second and go around it, circle the third with the second, and so on until the end.
14. After bending around, a hole was formed near each stand. They need to thread the ends of the risers, glue them on the inside and cut them off.
15. By the same principle, weave the lid, not forgetting to take into account that its diameter should be slightly larger than the box itself (by about 1 centimeter).
16. To increase wear resistance, moisture protection, to give a gloss, the finished product can be varnished.

If you want to make a rectangular or square box, then you need to take 11 long tubes for the bottom. Lay them out horizontally under each other at a distance of 2-2.5 centimeters. Leave a distance for the sides to the left and start weaving with two newspaper tubes at once with a "pigtail" up, then down, and so weave to the desired size of the rectangle. The uprights of the side and the sidewalls themselves are woven in the same way as when weaving a round-shaped box.

The box with a lid can be decorated according to your preferences. You can glue rhinestones, beads, lace; to make decor in the style of "decoupage", "scrapbooking". Lightweight small things can be stored in the finished product: accessories for needlework (beads, buttons, beads, etc.), hairpins, jewelry, checks, etc.Or you can simply use such a box as a decor, having made it so that it matches the style of your interior.

See the video below for a master class on weaving a box from newspaper tubes.