For years, I have used glossy magazine pages as paint mixing palettes in my middle school art classes. They work in most situations where wax paper palettes would be useful. They are free, resistant to liquid paint and, until recently, plentiful.
That has been the perceived problem for a while now. Clearly, magazines in our school library have been less and less common. I briefly became concerned that I would have to start buying disposable palettes or washing plastic ones…blech. Then it dawned on me…CATALOGS.
Catalogs may not be around forever, but they will certainly outlast magazines. A typical school district receives a considerable stack daily…And a good many of them are thrown away immediately. I put a donation box in our workroom and quickly amassed a nice reserve.
BONUS: Catalog pages, while still glossy, are mostly white, which helps with color recognition when paint mixing. Also, there are significantly less surprise inappropriate ads for students to giggle about.