Photos in B&W

Most girls are guilty of spending a slightly alarming sum on magazines each month. But how much bang do we really get for our buck? Once you've ignored the pages of advertising, how much quality content are you really left with? Well, perhaps not as much as you'd like- nonetheless, we will all continue to indulge in these intriguing little modern day life manuals or journals of social commentary, if you like. They teach us, inspire us and inform us. So lets explore a few ways to ensure you get the most value out of your magazines.

Some might cringe at the mere thought of this concept, but here goes: toss it in the recycle bin. This way it can be turned into another fabulous magazine, right? Can't bring yourself to 'destroy' the mag? Read on...

Do a good deed and give it over to a local doctor's surgery or women's refuge.

Use the fashion pages for a dose of daily inspiration: hang a piece of string across your apartment/room (eg. like a clothes line) and use wooden pegs to pin up your favourite pages. Change these as your tastes change and use old favourites to decorate notebook pages.

Cut out your favourite pictures & quotes (or use typography from headings to form your own words, ransom letter style!) and make up some personalised greeting cards. Just grab some light card paper from your local newsagent or art store & get creative. Think coloured pens, glitter, heart shaped stamps, ribbons & scissors that cut funky zig zag edges.

Pin your favourite makeup tutorials to your mirror for some guidance & inspiration, & to remind you of tips & techniques when getting dressed up for the day.

Create a scrapbook compilation of recipes from the food section (weekend newspapers are also good for us one). You've got yourself a DIY cookbook!

Decorate your shoe boxes with photographs & favourite quotes (see: Decluttering Article) or use cut outs to cover your school/uni folders or day planner.

Scan your favourite fashion page each month and use as your desktop wallpaper.

Make up a scrapbook of your favourite feature articles for quick future reference. Having all your favourites in the one place means you can pop it into your handbag for some reading on your commute to work or for some light summer reading when laying out catching some sunshine.

Get travel inspiration: cut out pictures from the travel section and glue them into your moleskine so you can plot & daydream about your future travels to faraway lands.

Commit to writing at least one page in your journal once you've finished reading each magazine. Reading other peoples work, as you do when perusing a magazine, will get your creative juices flowing & getting your own thoughts down on paper can be really beneficial; from simply acknowledging your thoughts to developing your writing skills. You can write on any subject you so desire: your ideas pertaining to what was touched on in the magazine, your reaction to the celebrities that were featured, issues that you feel were not explored to your liking & how you'd have written them or even a mock up letter to the editor. Once you've done writing your own little magazine inspired commentary, read your thoughts aloud (a la Miss Bradshaw - imagine you are narrating your own episode of YOU & the City WORLD!).

What do you do when done with your magazines?