Recipe
for Paper-mache
Materials
Needed:
- Newspapers,
- Flour,
- Water,
- Mixing bowl,
- Tempera paint,
- Materials for form: such as
balloons, grocery bags filled with crumpled papers.
Directions:
- Tear long newspaper
strips about one to two inches wide.
- Use
your form such as the balloon.
- Blow up the balloon or
put crumbled newspaper in a brown bag and shape the bag.
- When you choose your
shape, remember you will have to remove your form when the project is
complete so cover your form with plastic beforehand (a plastic grocery bag).
If you are using a balloon, you can just pop the balloon.
- In a mixing bowl,
combine water and flour until you have a paste that's thin enough to coat
the paper strips.
Experiment first with some small quantities
first. If the mixture is too thin, the paper will turn into a soggy mush.
- Dip the paper into the paste
and use your index finger and middle finger to act like a squeegee to run
down the strip of paper.
- Place the strip on your form,
crisscrossing to make overlapping layers.
- When you are done, place in a
warm, dry area to dry.
Once
the design is completely dry
- remove form by cutting a slit
in the bottom of the form and pulling out form, or pop the balloon.
- Decorate with tempera
paint.
Again,
this is one project that your imagination can go wild. It's quite messy, but the
results are worth it.