Papier Mache

Some newspaper, a little water, a balloon or mold, and some paint and viola! You have a cool mask or wall decoration. This is one of the most asked for crafts I get from kids. Did you know that papier-mâché is French? When translated to English it means 'chewed up paper'.

Here are two basic paste recipes to get you started.

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Paste Recipe 1:

3 parts water to 1 part flour

1-2 drops of Wintergreen oil (this prolongs the life of your paste and is optional)

Mix the flour, water, and oil until smooth and well blended.

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Paste Recipe 2:

2 parts white glue to one part water

Mix until well blended.

You can also by ready made papier mache paste.

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Paper choices:

Newspaper, phone book pages, tissue paper, gift wrap, junk mail, basically....PAPER!

I really like the effect I get when I use colored or printed tissue paper for the top layer.

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Mold choices:

Balloons

Flexible silicon item (like bake ware) is a great mold because it easily comes away from your finished project.

Old plastic Halloween mask (if you want it to fit on your face)

You can use play dough as a mold, just form it into the desired shape. Basically anything you want to use as a mold you can, but remember that you will have to put a layer of plastic wrap in between the finished project and your mold.

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Once your papier mache project is dried and removed from it's mold you can paint, design and decorate as you see fit.

For further ideas check out these books:

Below you will find a papier mache made by a 12 year old named Haley, we used play dough to make the mold and then she painted it using acrylic paints.