How to Beat the Winter Blues by Making Items With Paper Mache
Have you ever made paper mache with your children, or perhaps you made something out of it when you were a child, in School? Paper mache is great fun, in fact there are adults who make items out of paper mache, and they then give these items away as gifts, or sell them at craft shows and online. If you do not know what paper mache is, the most common item made from it is a pinata. The term paper mache means a substance made from pulped paper that can be shaped when wet and painted or decorated when dry.
Paper mache is a two step process, first you need to create the paper mache paste. The paper mache paste can be made from a few different things, and different ways, but the simplest method is to take elmers glue and mix it with water, use a 50/50 mixture, of one part glue to one part water, Another way to make paper mache paste is to simply use wallpaper paste. Simply follow the directions on the container, to mix the wallpaper paste.
The next step in making paper mache is to find an item you want to mache or cover. For instance when I was a youngster in School, we used an inflated balloon. Take a balloon and inflate it fully, and tie the stem shut so the air won't leak out Then carefully rub the balloon with a thin layer of cooking oil, and set it aside. The reason to rub the balloon with the cooking oil, is so the paper mache will not tend to stick to the balloon when it dires. Next tear up small strips of newspaper, roughly an inch wide and several inches long.
Take one strip of newspaper at a time, and dip it in the container of paper mache paste you made, remove the strip and run it through your fingers to wipe off any excess paste. Lay or press the strip of newspaper over the balloon, and press it down to remove as many bumps and wrinkles as possible. Then take another strip of newspaper and repeat the process. You can overlap the strips a little as needed, do so into the balloon is covered, then set it aside to dry completely, usually 24 hours.
Keep your container of paper mache paste, sealed up so it won't dry out, if it does try adding a little water to it, or you may have to make another batch of it. Repeat the process and cover the balloon again, with another layer of newspaper strips and again let it dry for 24 hours or so, and repeat the process again. Usually 3 layers of paper mache are plenty to cover any item. Once dry you can turn the shape into a head, by making a nose from taping a bottle cap and paper maching over it, and adding other items as you want.
Once completely dry and finished, you can pop the balloon or untie the stem to deflate it and remove it from the paper mache. Now you can paint your project and finish it. There is no limit to the designs and things you can make with paper mache, everything from pinata's to masks, heads, baskets, and more. Making items from paper mache is a hobby that one person, or an entire family can enjoy, and it's a great hobby for helping to beat the winter blues.
There is a website that describes numerous activities and other methods to help eliminate the Winter Blues, this website is called: Winter Activities - and it may be found at this url: http://www.winter-activities.com
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"How to Beat the Winter Blues by Making Items With Paper Mache", was submitted 02/14/2012 under category Recreation.
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