Papier Maché

Make your own ornaments or other fun projects using recycled papers. You can use Newspaper, stationary, gift wrap, or any paper you have left over. Once you make the mixture using one of the three recipes below, form the PAPIER MACHÉ into shapes, let it dry, and paint it!

Recipe 1/ Ingredients: flour,water,paper

• Stir three parts water into one part flour until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
• To make the paste last longer, add a few drops of oil of Wintergreen. (optional) You can buy this oil at a drugstore.
• Stir well and the paste is ready to use.
• Now you need paper- newspaper works well!
• Dip each piece of paper in the liquid mixture and apply it one piece at a time to form your shapes.

• Buy some wallpaper paste at a hardware store.
• Mix one part wallpaper paste with three parts water.
• Stir well and the paste is ready to use.
• Now you need paper- newspaper works well!
• Dip each piece of paper in the liquid mixture and apply it one piece at a time to form your shapes.

• Mix two parts white glue with one part warm water.
• Stir well and the Paste is ready to use.
• Now you need paper-newspaper works well!
• Dip each piece of paper in the liquid mixture and apply it one piece at a time to form your shapes.

Materials

• newspapers
• balloons
• 10 lbs. of flour (for 30 or so globes)
• big pail for papier mâché mixture
• green and blue tempera paint & brushes
• markers (to draw in borders, features, etc.)

Method

• Tear newspaper into one inch strips.
• Have each student inflate a balloon.
• Cover desks with newspaper.
• Distribute strips of paper.
• Mix flour and water to a paste consistancy and put in pans (you may want to do this in advance), and distribute.
• Dip strips of paper in pans and wrap around balloon (at least 4 layers- you may want to apply layers over a few days for it to dry fully).
• Put finished globes on clean newspaper and let dry overnight.
• Pop and remove balloon.
• Draw in continent boundaries.
• Paint in continents with green tempera paint, and allow to dry overnight.
• Paint in water masses with blue tempera paint, and allow to dry overnight.
• Using markers, redraw continent borders and label land and water masses.