How to Make Paper Mache

Lay newspaper over your whole work surface first. This gets messy and you will be glad of it later.

Then tear a pile of strips. Newspaper tears in a straight line along the grain, so you can grab several sheets at once and tear them together. Tear more than you think you need - stopping mid-project with paste on both hands is miserable.

Newsprint and plain coloured paper both work. Card stock is the one to avoid. It is too thick to soak up the paste properly.

One cup of flour to two cups of water. Whisk it until the lumps are gone and it looks like pancake batter.

Let it sit for a minute before you use it. It thickens as it stands. You want it loose enough that a strip of newspaper sinks in rather than sitting on top.

Pick any bowl as your form. Big, small, medium, it makes no difference to the method.

Cover it with a plastic bag or cling film and turn it upside down on the table. The plastic is what lets the dried shell come away later, so cover it well. Tape the bag underneath if you want it to stay put while you work.

Push a strip down into the paste so it soaks through, then pull it between two fingers to strip off the excess. Lay it across the upturned form and smooth it flat.

If the wet texture bothers you, wear gloves or have someone else do the dipping. It is a common enough complaint that it is worth saying out loud.

Keep laying strips until the form is covered, then go round again. Two to three full layers is the target.

The layer count is what decides how strong the finished piece is. A single layer will hold its shape but stays fragile enough to crush in one hand. Three layers gives you something that survives being picked up and put down.

Cross the strips in different directions as you build. It binds the shell together.

If a patch looks gooey and slimy, lay a dry strip over it and press. The dry paper soaks the extra paste straight up.

Smooth the whole surface, check around the rim for gaps, then put it somewhere safe overnight.

Drying time depends on where you live. Somewhere dry it can be done by morning. Somewhere humid it can take considerably longer, and there is no shortcut worth taking.

When the shell is hard, take the bowl out first and peel the plastic bag away second.

That order matters. Trying to pull the plastic while the bowl is still inside is fiddly and it is how shells get torn. Pull the form out, then the bag lifts away easily.

The top edge comes out tattered. Straighten it with scissors and it immediately looks like a finished object rather than an accident.

Or lean into it. A hole punch around the rim gives you a row of neat circles, and you can carry that all the way round if you like.

Acrylic or tempera both work. Use the paint straight from the pot.

Do not thin it with water. Water softens the paper mache underneath and undoes the work you just did. If you want fuller coverage over the newsprint, build up a second dry coat instead of watering the first one down.

A different colour inside and out looks good and costs nothing extra.

Bare newsprint looks good on its own. Cut the rim into points or petals with scissors and the newspaper print becomes the pattern.

Left unpainted, small paper edges can lift over time. A coat of Mod Podge or watered-down white glue locks everything down and gives a light sheen.

Then take the method somewhere else. A balloon under the same strips gives you a mask, a pinata, or a hat.