Crafts - Transforming Print Material
By
Photograph by:
YOU’LL NEED
✔ Scrap paper (newsprint, magazines, old books)
✔ Flour ✔ Water ✔ Bowl ✔ Paint ✔ Scissors
✔ White glue ✔ Foam brush ✔ Wooden box ✔ Beads
✔ Wooden skewers ✔ Thread or bead wire ✔ Varathane
Daily News Dish BEGINNER - Paper Mache Bowl
- Choose a stainless steel bowl the size you'd like your bowl to be.
- Rip up used newspapers into strips about 2.5 cm wide by 8 to 10 cm long. Precision is not important, and ripping is fun!
- Turn the bowl upside down and lay a piece of plastic wrap over top.
- In a separate bowl, mix one part flour to one part water (amounts depend on the size of your bowl, but it’s good to start with small amounts and make more as you need). Use your hands to mix until you have a pancake-batter like consistency.
- Immerse paper strip into paste, then squeeze off excess paste between two fingers. Lay over plastic.
- Continue covering the bowl like this with one layer of paper. Let dry.
- Cover paste with plastic wrap while project dries, then repeat process with second layer. Let dry.
- Trim paper around edge of bowl. Pop paper mache from bowl and remove plastic wrap. Let dry further if necessary.
- Paint as desired. Coat with varathane spray to seal paint.
Book Lover’s Box INTERMEDIATE - Découpage Container
- Choose an old book that is too worn for a thrift store.
- Carefully cut out shapes and words. Plan how you will arrange some of the cutouts on a wooden box (found at a dollar store).
- Pour some white glue into a bowl and add water to loosen the consistency.
- Using a foam brush, apply glue to the back of each shape, but don't worry if you get some glue on the front as well.
- Images are supposed to be overlapping.
- Let dry, then coat with varathane.
Junk Mail Jewellery ADVANCED - Paper Beads
- Find heavy paper flyers or brochures with colours you like.
- Cut long triangles about 2.5 cm wide at the base and about 30 cm long.
- With your thumbs and
- forefingers, hold the base of a triangle strip to a wooden skewer.
- Roll the triangle to about the last 2 cm of the strip. Keeping paper tightly wound, add a dab of glue then finish rolling.
- Hold in place for about 10 seconds until glue has set. Slide the bead off the skewer.
- When you have enough beads, string them with coordinating plastic or glass beads.
Published May 2010
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