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Paper Mache
Here is a home recipe for Paper Mache.
(I had a hard time finding one without store bought glue in it).
1 cup flour,
2 tbsp salt (to prevent molding),
1 to 1 1/2 cups water, depending on how arrid your climate is.
Combine ingredients in food processor or whisk and mix till smooth in texture, a slightly thin paste but not as thin as glue. Too much water and you paper strips tear too easily and you have a dickens of a time getting them on your project.
Soak newspaper strips in mixture, use fingers to squigee off excess paste and layer on form. We use balloons placed in a plastic wrap lined cup to hold it upright. Allow to dry before painting.
Save your used food containers! I am currently making some really nice boxes by covering ice cream containers with paper mache and then decoupage designs and pictures on them. I use the rectangular containers with the plastic rimmed lid, cover the box part with the mache. To decorate the lid, cut out a piece of cardboard to glue into the top section and level it out, paint and hot glue trim on to cover the seam where the cardboard meets the plastic edge. Hot glue left over fabric on the inside or paint. Makes a very nice gift for stash boxes, jewelry boxes or as a gift box for something special inside.
At Halloween we made ghosts (long balloons wedged in a plastic wrap lined coffee mug to hold the form up and then draped the strips), at Thanksgiving we made scarecrow heads (round balloons) and for Christmas we made serving bowls using a plastic wrap lined bowl for the form. It was great fun and everything turned out real cute.
I just recently saw a cool idea on the Home Matters show. They decopaged cutouts onto the paper mache bowls. They looked great, so I will be doing that next.
