Paper Mache Earth

The base for this paper mache globe is a beach ball. It gave the necessary round shape and was pretty sturdy to work with as well.

Session 1: I had my students place long strips of newspaper (about 10" x 3") covered in mache across a 14" beach ball. Large bowls were placed under the balls to keep them from rolling around. Some students covered the entire beach ball all in one layer, some got about 3/4 done. When drying, I had some issues with the beach balls deflating a bit, making them look lopsided. Not good. But I found that if I placed them in the sun for a few hours, the heat reinflated them. (The science lesson is a bonus.)
Session 2: Just like the first, with an emphasis on placing newspaper strips in the opposite direction to add strength.
Sessions 3: Students mached blank newsprint over the entire globe to cover all the type.
Session 4: I drew some very simple continent shapes on the board, and had the students paint in green the “land” on their globe. When complete, they filled in the rest with blue. My kids were so young I didn't bring up the issue of the north and south poles being white, but older students would probably like to do so. When the paint was dry, I sprayed the globes heavily with a spray varnish to add a little shine. All in all, a lot of fun and parents liked them as much as the kids.
Need a recipe for paper mache? Click here for the link to mine.

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Paper Mache Eggs, for Easter or Spring

I love springtime crafts that more or less imitate nature. I experimented with covering plastic fillable easter eggs with paper mache, and came up with this simple decoration.

1. I used the recipe that I posted about here, and covered a few plastic eggs with small bits of newspaper and mache. Several layers are best so that no plastic is peeking through. Let dry completely. Note: This worked well even with kinders as their small hands could really squeeze the eggs to smooth the paper.
2. Brush the eggs with one main light acrylic color and let it dry. Then use a small amount of darker paint for texture. Brush it on so that the eggs look to have 50/50 covering and let dry.
3. Rub on some gold tempera paint by hand to give the eggs a little shine.
4. Use a natural looking, bumpy yarn and unroll it into a small round pile for the nest. The result is a really nice centerpiece for any table.

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Giant Paper Mache Giraffe, Part 1

My experimenting with juice boxes continues. This giraffe requires 32 juice boxes connected with plenty of packing tape to make it extra sturdy. A couple of flat box panels at the base of the neck add contour, and I used small cups for the horns. More to come...

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Paper Mache Valentine Heart Box

I used modeling clay to first form these Valentine heart boxes. If you can buy the clay at a ceramic supply store, it can be pretty inexpensive.

1. Each student got a piece of clay to form a ball to shape into a plump, round heart which they wrapped in plastic wrap.
2. The students covered the hearts with at least two layers of paper mache. The hearts were left to dry thoroughly over several days.

3. In the second class I used a utility knife to cut around the outside edge of each heart. The kids had fun opening up the heart and removing the plastic wrapped clay. They then painted all surfaces with acrylic paint.
4. Students coated all surfaces with Mod Podge, and some sprinkled on a little glitter for extra sparkle.

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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 2

My paper mache Nutcracker is now ready to be covered with a layer of white paper towels. The outlined figures represent 4 ft. tall students, which shows just how tall this guy really is. I’d love to make a whole row of these to line our school hall.

An overview of the work done so far...

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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 1

I had often thought that my collected juice cartons could make a really cool giant paper mache figure, so with my Nutcracker theme going on this year, I guess it was only a matter of time before I put the two together. This figure is made from heavy cardboard cartons that contain 12 of the pouch-type juices. There are many brands, but the sizes are all the same and the boxes are all wonderfully strong.

I started by heavily taping together...

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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 3 and 4

Last week my giant nutcracker project was completed, just in the nick of time for the school’s holiday show. 

White paper towels were paper mached over the newsprint. The next day students painted a layer of red, black and peach acrylic paint. The face, buttons and belt were added when all was dry, and white fur beard pinned at the end (one minute before curtain, to be exact.)

The kids loved working on this project, and a smart 2nd grader already suggested how we could recycle him after the holidays – turn him into Abe Lincoln for President’s Day! Does our school have clever kids or what?

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Plastic Bag Mache Pumpkin

This pumpkin is made from about 40 plastic grocery bags, some Saran wrap, 3 rubber bands, newspaper, paper towel and mache, topped off with a beautiful new orange glitter paint I found at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I'm so excited to have found this beautiful way to recycle plastic grocery bags. For my complete tutorial, click HERE.

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3D Paper Mache Letter

If you like those cool Pottery Barn letters but not the price, make your own.

1. My son's letter is about 9" tall. Start by drawing a big block letter on corrugated cardboard and cut out. Trace a second letter and cut it out also.
2. Get some styrofoam or similar cups and cut at least 5 to the same height and glue to one of the letters. When dry add glue to the edges of the cups, and in effect make a sandwich with the second letter. Make sure the letters are aligned so that it will stand and cover the edges with masking tape.
3. Mix up a batch of paper-mache and cover the entire letter with several layers of paper strips. If you really want a sturdy letter, have another mache session and let dry for at least a day.
4. Paint the letter with acrylic paint. I've found it best to paint the background first and then come back the following day to add details. When finished, paint with Mod Podge to add polish and protection for the paint.

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Giant Paper Mache Numbers – Painted

Here’s the follow up to my “Giant Paper Mache Numbers” project, all painted and ready for a culmination ceremony tomorrow. I finished putting one layer of mache on all the numbers, painted them with a flat black interior paint, and then let the students take turns dripping on my leftover acrylic paint. I couldn’t be happier with the finished product. I especially love that you can get such big results with a little time and love, and little expense.

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Giant Paper Mache Numbers

When I started my afterschool classes last fall, I all of a sudden was going through Capri Sun and Goldfish boxes like crazy, and they just seemed to be too sturdy to throw away. My pack-rat ways paid off this week when I needed to make a “2010” sign for our culminating 5th graders. A boring painted sign? No way, our kids are getting giant block numbers about 4 ft. tall, which are to be painted black and spattered with paint tomorrow. I’m now having visions of doing our school name this fall, but maybe twice as tall? We’ll see, anything to decrease the amount of trash in our landfills these days.

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‘Ugly’ Paper Mache Monsters

This is a new project I just tried out with my afterschool paper mache class. It’s based on those super thick Capri juice boxes that I’ve been hoarding all year. I taped a pair together both side by side and on top of each other to give the students a choice of monster shapes to build on.
1. PREP WORK: Tape pairs of boxes together with packing tape, some on the wide side to make a long rectangle (left), and some on the thin side to make a large square (right). For the first class, the students use newspaper and mache to cover the boxes and hide any seams. Let dry until hard to the touch.
2. PREP WORK: Glue small plastic cups for eyes and legs with craft glue and let dry before next mache session. Note: plastic or styrofoam is better than paper as it doesn't “wilt” under the weight of too much mache. For class two, the students use large squares of paper towel with mache to cover roughly the bottom half of the monster. Let dry until hard to the touch.
3. PREP WORK: Cut curved ear shapes from large styrofoam cups and tape to top corners of the monster. For class, the students use paper towels again with mache to complete the top coverage of the monster. Let dry until hard to the touch.
4. Paint time! I like the inexpensive Michael’s brand of acrylic paints that come in really bright colors. I recommended to the kids that they paint a base color first and then add details on top. Let dry. To add a bit of shine at the end, a layer of Mod Podge could be added to the surface.

Thank you Ella (monster left) and Audrey (monster right) for letting me share your artwork. Can you believe they are both just in 1st grade?

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Paper Mache Bowl, Part 2

As promised, here is my follow up to yesterday's post. This bowl was made and painted by a very talented kinder, believe it or not.

1. I did a bit of prep work by spray painting the outside bowl with a very quick layer of white spray paint. It wasn't enough to totally cover up the newsprint, just maybe half of it or so. When the students worked with their acrylic paint, it seemed to help keep the colors bright and pretty opaque. They began by generously covering both the outside and inside of their bowls with their favorite color.

2. The last step was to add any detail design. Smaller brushes were available to paint stripes or spots. 

3. After the bowls are completely dry, they are sprayed with a gloss sealer to protect and add a bit of shine. My opinion is that a glossy shine will make almost any project look it's best.

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Paper Mache Bowl, Part 1

My current afterschool paper mache project is turning out to be one of my most reliable, ye olde balloon and mache combination. I posted this project a while back, but without illustrations. Tomorrow is paint day so I'll be showing off the results.

SESSION ONE: I started each student off with a 12" balloon and a cut-off grocery box to hold the balloon in place. The students used 10" strips of newspaper for the first layer. The mache recipe can be found HERE. The mache requires several days to dry. Warning: Do not sun dry in the sun. The balloon will expand and tear the paper.

SESSION TWO:  If your balloon has popped, cut a small opening and blow up another inside to replace it. A second layer of mache and paper is applied. It helps to do the this layer with a diffent color paper to assure full coverage. Again, let dry for several days.

SESSION THREE: Cut a 7" circle of corrugated cardboard for the base of each bowl and use about 8 long strips of masking tape to secure it as shown. Have the students mache a layer of long newspaper strips to wrap around over the masking tape and cover the bottom to complete the base. Then, add a second layer and let dry for several days.

SESSION FOUR: To prep for painting, I used a  box cutter to open the bowl and then covered the rim with masking tape to reinforce it. Paint away with bright acrylic paint. Check back in to see a sample tomorrow...

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Paper Mache Piggy Bank

This was my third after-school paper mache project this year, and I must say that I learned a LOT from doing this with 20 students, mostly grades kinder and 1st. These pigs took 5 class sessions to complete.
1. The first class was just about having each student cover a 12" balloon with a couple of layers of newspaper and paper mache. My favorite recipe is posted here. One thing I learned was to tie the balloon really tight, as it was best if it stayed inflated through the 2nd class. Students that had only one layer of newspaper in the first class (and popped balloons) had shapes that collapsed in the second.
2. The students covered their balloons with a second layer of newspaper. In hindsight, I would have asked them to place their strips in a different direction so that they could see their progress more easily.
3. To smooth out the body and cover up the darkness of the newspaper, the students covered their ballon with a layer of mache covered paper towel strips.
4. To prep the pigs for the students, I used small white styrofoam cups (the 2" tall type from Smart & Final) and glued them with Tacky glue to the bottom for feet, and over the knot of the balloon for the snout. A curved section of the cups was also cut and glued for the ears. This was done a day before class to make sure the glue would dry. During class, time the students made one more paper towel mache covering, making sure they covered the ears, nose and feet of their pig.
5. At last, paint day! I limited the students to one acrylic color (pink) for budget reasons, but let them add any decorations they wished. After the paint dried, I cut the coin slots with a razor knife and sprayed the entire pig with a shiny varnish.

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Paper Mache Bowls

My after-school paper mache class just finished their bowl project, and I love how they turned out. The key is to just not take any shortcuts. This bowl is made from four mache sessions: two with newspaper and two with paper towels.

1. I have posted the steps to this project before, which you can see by clicking here. I had previously instructed students to do just three layers of mache, but you can see the difference that is made by adding one more layer. I love how thick and strong this one is. It stands about 12" high. This bowl was made by a talented kinder (with a little help from his mom).

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Paper Mache Masks

This week I had a lot of students finish their paper mache masks in my first after-school class. I love the big, bold results! One of the joys of working with little kids is watching how they can paint without hesitation. No regrets, no worries... they just paint.

Note: There is a fair amount of prep work for this, but it was all made from recycled products so it was cheap. I started by cutting the largest matching ovals I could from the two flat sides of a pizza box, approx: 17" x 14". This large size is important as it allows little ones to paint with big fat brushes and still get a clear face. Using box cutters, I cut out the eyes from one oval, traced them onto the other and cut again. You will need some kind of spacers to glue the two cardboard faces together, with about an inch of space between. I stacked about 5 layers of cardboard strips together on the chin, cheeks and forehead and glued them together with a tacky white glue. Let dry. With 2" wide masking tape, run a strip all around the outside to seal the edge. With thinner tape, also tape closed the inside of the eyes. This has to be repeated for each student.
1. Week One: Have the students paper mache the large areas of the face with 5" squares of paper towel. They should try to get near all the edges to make what looks like a generally white face.
2. Week Two: The students now work with narrower strips of paper towel, about 2" wide, and concentrate on wrapping the strips around the outside edge and the inside of the eyes. The mask should now be completely covered with towel, and there should be no tape showing anywhere.
3. Week Three: I had a lot of premixed acrylic paint from Michael’s, their store brand actually, and first limited the kids to one background color of paint. When the face was completely covered, they were allowed to choose their own colors to paint details. Let dry. Spray with a glossy spray sealer when complete.

This mask was made by a talented first grader, Sophie Haaland. Thanks Sophie!

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Mache Pumpkin from Plastic Bags

This pumpkin is made from about 40 plastic grocery bags, some Saran wrap, 3 rubber bands, newspaper, paper towel and mache, topped off with a beautiful new orange glitter paint I found at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I'm so excited to have found this beautiful way to recycle plastic grocery bags.

Plastic Bag Pumpkin Tutorial
1. Collect about 40 plastic bags and loosely stuff them inside each other, one at a time. Compress lightly and tie bag shut with a slipknot at the top.


2. To smooth the surface, wrap the outside of the bag with a few long pieces of Saran Wrap. Overlap as necessary to keep edges lying flat. Take a rubberband (I used a 3" dia.) and slip around the center of the ball. Repeat with 2 more rubberbands, adjusting them evenly.



Adjust your rubberbands on top to be as close to the “stem” as possible, and the bottom to make a nicely centered crisscross as shown above.

3. Cover the pumpkin with one layer of paper mache. Be sure to run your finders through the creases often so that they stay prominent and don’t get smoothed over. For my favorite mache recipe, click here. Let dry overnight. Repeat with another layer of newspaper and let dry.

4. This step really helps to smooth out the bumps and gives you a nice white background to paint on. Cover the pumpkin with one layer of mache and paper towels.

5. I painted my pumpkin with two shades of Americana® orange acrylic paint. First a darker Cadmium Orange, then highlights of Jack-O-Lantern Orange, and finally Holly Green for the stem. After the paint dried, I added a layer of “Craft Twinkles Orange” from DecoArt®. It’s a kind of gel-looking paint that not only adds glitter, but a nice shine as well.

I’m going to experiment next with making more of these in different sizes. I think for elementary age students though, this size or larger would be best. This pumpkin measures about 8" in diameter.

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Paper-Mache Buildings

This project came from a need for inexpensive “New Yorkish” table decorations for my school’s silent auction.

1. Prep the matte board by cutting the rectangles and squares with a large paper cutter ahead of class time. Each student will start with a set of 4 rectangle sides, and one square top.
2. Show the students how to tape the building sides and top together. Have them paper-mache with newspaper all around the outside, taking care to wrap the edges to keep the building smooth. The buildings then need to dry.
3. Follow up the newspaper layer with a layer of torn blank newsprint to cover up the letters. Dry again.
4. Using acrylic paint, cover the background in one color. After that is dry, have the students paint lots of randon squares to imitate rooms with lights on. Finally, give them fat permanent markers to trace around the windows.
5. Apply a layer of glossy Mod Podge to all to give it a nice shine.

My favorite paper-mache recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
8 cups cold water
8 cups boiling water
3/4 cup sugar
Mix the flour and cold water in a bowl. Add it to your saucepan of boiling water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let cool; it will thicken as it cools. This recipe makes about a gallon of mache.

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