Marysville Junk mail masterpieces Thumb-area students turn junk mail into artwork for art class

By Crystal Garcia Times Herald (Port Huron) MARYSVILLE, Mich. (AP) -- Students at a Thumb-area elementary school have given old junk mail new life. Gardens Elementary School students recently spent two weeks in art class designing projects with pieces of colored junk mail. Art teacher Debbie Mills put a call out for the mail in the school's newsletter and collected the mail for about a month before she had collected enough for the students' projects. She said she found the idea for the project online. Students could design anything they wanted with the tear-drop shaped pieces of junk mail they cut out. Designs ranged from faces and flowers to animals and random pictures. "It's always interesting to see what they come up with," Mills said. She said the lesson was a good way to reinforce the "reduce, reuse, recycle" theme that runs throughout the school. "We're always looking for ways to remind the kids to reduce, reuse and recycle," Mills said. Third grade students who wrapped up their projects Monday said they enjoyed the project. "It's actually pretty fun because you get cool pictures, and when you cut it out, there's stuff on the other side," said 9-year-old Nolan Reeves of Marysville. "And you get to choose what side you want, so it's pretty interesting." Nolan designed a face out of his junk mail. Nine-year-old Aaron Delecke and 8-year-old Josie Awe, both of Marysville, also designed faces. "You get to make a design instead of making exactly what the teacher tells you," Josie said about the project. "You can make anything you want." They said they get a lot of junk mail at home and liked putting it to use. "It's helpful," Aaron said. "We're reusing." Published: Wed, Mar 21, 2012