If you have a lot of paper that you don’t have a clue how to deal with then a paper mache bowl is a great project to work on to put them to use. Making paper bowls will make an interesting activity to spend time on especially if you have an entire afternoon doing nothing. You’ll need several materials to make these bowls. You’ll be handling chemicals like varnish and paint so it would be wise to take proper precautions with such substances.
Materials/Equipment
If you have some wallpaper paste lying around that you don’t have any use for then get them ready. If you don’t have that you should mix some water and flour to form a paste. Bring out all the scrap paper you have lying around. You should find a mould that you would like to use, which would be shaped like a bowl for this particular project. Prepare some paint, clear varnish, and Vaseline. You’ll also need wrapping paper, felt tips, and a spatula.
Making Paper Mache Bowls
Get your wallpaper paste ready. If you don’t have you should spend about a minute to mix some flour and water to make your own home made paste. Set that aside and grab your scrap paper and start tearing them into small strips. To make things easier, follow the paper’s grain when you tear them. Make the strips about a couple of centimeters wide or something close to that.
Grab a spare bowl that you no longer use to work as your mould. After some experience at this you can use moulds other than a bowl to make really interesting objects. Grab some Vaseline and cover your mould with it. Make sure that you make a thick covering of Vaseline. A good alternative is to wrap the mould in plastic wrap if you have one available.
Take a strip of paper and dip it into the paste. Paste the strip on your mould and smoothen the strip as much as you can. Continue pasting strips of paper onto the bowl until you have a thin layer completely covering it. Leave the layer to dry for an hour until it dries completely. Add a second layer to it and then let it dry overnight.
Add several layers to your paper mache bowl following the same pattern. Keep adding layers until your bowl is a couple of centimeters thick. Once your paper mache bowl is that thick leave it until it is completely dry.
Once it is dried out remove it from the mould. Use a spatula to separate the mould from the paper mache bowl. Paint and decorate your bowl as you see fit.
Tips
You’ll be handling a lot of stuff that won’t easily wash off your clothes. A good tip would be to wear an apron when you make paper mache bowls. If you don’t have one you should put on some old clothing that you can care less about if it gets stains on them or otherwise. When making these bowls you’ll be required to practice a bit of patience.
You’ll be building layers upon layers of paper just to construct these bowls. Don’t rush things and add several layers at a time. That will just make it longer for your paper mache bowls to dry out completely. Work on each layer at a time and wait for them to dry accordingly.
