Most stores that sell wallpaper will give away their sample books from discontinued wallpapers. They are usually very glad to get rid of them. These sample books have pages large enough to make most of the crafts mentioned on this page. They are also great for projects that need several coordinating designs, such as the quilting. Another source is friends that have recently repapered a room and may have leftover scraps. I have also seen wallpaper rolls at garage sales. Although not free, it can be very low cost.
How do I get the paper out of the sample books?
The sample books can take up a lot of room, but they can be taken apart and the paper stored. The easiest way is to use a utility knife and cut the pages out. However, you will lose part of the paper that is caught in-between the covers. Sometimes you need that little extra to get an entire design or to make that special project. These books are put together very well to hold up to a lot of abuse, but they can be taken apart in a very short time with little effort. This is the method I have used.
You need a HEAVY straight blade screwdriver, pliers, wire cutters, utility knife, and if you have one, a small crowbar-like tool. A strong arm also helps!
First cut the covers off where they fold back. Save these for lap pads, cutting boards, ironing pads, any time you need a firm surface.
Most books are put together in the same general way. There are 2 or 3 main screws on each side. Insert the screwdriver under the cover next to a screw. Pry it up. This may take some work, sometimes they are quite easy. Use the crowbar if needed. Once you get it up, go on to the next one. Do one complete side, then the other. Once the cover is off, you can see what method was used for that particular book. Sometimes it's staples, sometimes ring-shank nails, sometimes regular nails. Check to see how they are fastened on the other side. Sometimes they go all the way thru and then bend over, so you can't just pull them out. Again, do just one side at a time. Use the crowbar, pliers, and screwdriver, whatever it takes to loosen it up. If it's the real long staples, I've found that cutting it and then pulling each side up with the pliers works pretty good. Once you have one side off, you can just pull the sheets off - no need to actually remove the nails from the other side.
Just keep trying - the more you do, the easier it gets.
Once you get the books apart, separate the actual wallpaper pages from the dividers, fabric swatches, and cardboard. I store mine in a dresser drawer in my craft room. For those that are really ambitious, save the fabric swatches for quilting.
What about the back side of the wallpaper?
For many projects, you won't want the back side of the wallpaper to be visible. The easiest way to cover this is to bond the wallpaper to something else, such as tissue paper, gift wrap, or even a coordinating piece of wallpaper. The best way to adhere them is with plastic. My favorite is the plastic bags from dry cleaning, but any very thin plastic will do. Food wrap is OK, as long as it's not the heavy microwave type. Cheap garbage can liners will work, too. You will also need an old iron. I have one I keep just for crafting. You probably won't want to use the same iron on clothes that you use for wallpaper.
On a firm surface (the covers from the wallpaper books work great!), layer the wallpaper, face down, then the plastic, then the tissue paper (or whatever paper you are using for a backing) in that order. If you want a unique look, crumple the tissue paper first, then smooth it out and place it on the plastic. Using as hot a setting as you can, iron the tissue paper. This will melt the plastic, and bond the papers together. If you want to make a box, use this same procedure to bond the wallpaper to cardboard from a cereal box or other thin cardboard you may have.
If you want the wallpaper to have a plain white backing, you can iron freezer wrap to the wallpaper. You won't need the plastic, as the freezer wrap has a plastic backing on it. You can also use the freezer wrap to bond with tissue paper, gift wrap, maps, calendar pictures, paper napkins or tablecloths, or any other recycled paper to make many of these same projects.
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