Papier Mâché Bowl
From The Flower Fairies Activity Book
Why not make a pretty bowl to keep your special things in? This can be made out of old newspapers, a balloon and some wallpaper paste. You will also need a sheet of white paper and some paint or coloured tissue paper to decorate your bowl when you have made it.
- Blow up a balloon and knot it.
- Tear an old newspaper into strips of about 10 x 5 cm (4 x 2 inches).
- Ask an adult to make up some wallpaper paste for you.
- Dip the strips of newspaper into the wallpaper paste so that they are coated with glue, but not too much or the paper will take too long to dry. Cover the bottom half of the balloon with a layer of the newspaper strips - it doesn't matter if the strips overlap each other a bit.
- Put the balloon in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until the paper has completely dried.
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 about seven more times, but for the last layer use white paper instead of newspaper so that you have a clean surface to decorate.
- When the last layer is dry, pop the balloon, and with a pair of scissors, trim round the top of the papier mâché to make an even edged bowl shape.
- Your bowl is ready to decorate. You could paint flowers on it, perhaps. Or, if you don't like painting, you could try sticking different coloured tissue paper over your bowl to create a bright, jewel-like mosaic effect.