More rain today.  Still house bound and getting bored.  I’m thinking we need a project.  One of my favorites is papier-mâché, (A substance made from paper pulp that can be molded when wet and painted when dry.)  If you’ve never tried it, I can highly recommend it for good…messy…fun.  Sure to turn those “I’m bored!” frowns upside down.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup white flour
2/3 cup water
Newspaper strips torn about 1 1/2 inches wide. Wait this is 2011.  Does anybody still have yesterday’s newspaper lying around? If you don’t have access to old newspaper strips of paper towel or almost any inexpensive absorbent paper will work.

A hint – newspaper tears best from top to bottom. If you’re not getting even strips easily – turn the paper around and tear from the other direction.

A small disposable container of some sort to use as the base for your project. A little cereal box, an empty plastic milk carton or soda bottle, a strong balloon that’s partly inflated

Gather your supplies and then:

Mix the flour and water in a good sized bowl. It should be about the consistency of thick glue when you’ve mixed it all up. If you want it to be thicker or thinner – add more flour or water a LITTLE bit at a time.

Put down a thick layer of newspaper to work on – so you won’t make a mess on the table. Dip a strip of newspaper into the paste, gently pull it through your fingers to take off any extra paste. Now put it smoothly on the base for your project. Repeat with another strip and this time crisscross or overlap the first strip.

Repeat again and again, until the base is completely covered in newspaper strips and the whole thing is about 1/4 inch thick. Set it aside to dry thoroughly.

When your project is dry you can decorate it with poster paints or hobby acrylic paints, bits of braid, buttons, lace, ribbon or anything that pleases you.

Here’s a project we made for Easter several years ago.  Full instructions are still online in my Holiday Village Easter pages. HERE

Have fun!