Paper Mache for Kids

Make a Paper Mache Halloween Pumpkin Lantern

In this guest post, Kim teaches us how to make a paper mache pumpkin lantern for Halloween. (I’m going to make several of these myself – the plastic forms are on sale now at the local Wal-Mart for $1!) I’m trying a new format for this post, with a gallery of photos first, and the instructions [...]

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Paper Mache Piggy Bank, and Kune Kune Piglet Video

I thought this would be a good time to revisit my old paper mache piggy bank tutorial, because this week I met a friend’s Kune Kune-cross piglets. What friendly little fellows they are! If I wasn’t renting my next house, I might have taken one with me. Sue told me that most of the ones [...]

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Paper Mache Dragon, Revisited

This dragon is the very first project that I created for this blog, back in November of 2008! I can’t believe it’s been that long. Even after all that time, this dragon is still one of the most popular projects on the blog. For months now I’ve wanted to go back over some of the [...]

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Paper Mache Projects for Kids

I confess – I’ve been a slacker lately when it comes to paper mache sculpture, and I’m starting to feel guilty about letting my blog go for so long without a new post. I have good excuses, of course. I’ve been building a chicken house, reading up on gardening, and entertaining guests. But, excuses aside, [...]

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Paper Clay – An Alternative to Paper Mache for Young Artists

Since this is a blog devoted to paper mache, what I’m about to say may seem like blasphemy–I’m going to suggest that paper mache may not be the best craft material for very young children. First, I’ll tell you why I think that’s true, and then I’ll tell you why I think paper clay is [...]

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Paper Mache/PVC Didgeridoo

This handmade didgeridoo (didge, for short) was made with a 4′ section of 1 1/2″ ABS plastic plumbing pipe, covered with paper mache and then painted. I finished mine in one day. You buy the pipe at the hardware or plumbing store in standard 10′ lengths, so you will have enough material for two didgeridoos. [...]

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Playful Paper Mache Panda You Can Make

The paper mache panda I promised is finished, and you can make one of your own using the following photos and instructions.This is a fairly advanced project, but if you have any prior experience with paper mache you should be able to make a very nice panda of your own. Before making your panda, be [...]

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Make a Paper Mache Echidna

When I saw a photo of a long-beaked echidna in a New York Times article, I knew I had found my next paper mache project. This critter is so absurd, he’s adorable! This is a fairly advanced project, and you will need to use some sharp tools to cut the wooden toothpicks and for making [...]

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Paper Mache Heart Bouquet

Project Difficulty Level: Intermediate These little “hearts on a stick” would make a fun family project. To make the bouquet, you’ll need: Some small dowels. I bought a package of 16 3/16″ x 12″ dowels in the crafts department of WalMart for $1.12. Acrylic craft paints, in Cardinal Red and Gold. Scrap cardboard. A few [...]

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Paper Mache Rabbit II

In a previous post I showed you how to make a little paper mache lop-eared bunny, using newspaper and masking tape to create the form. In this post I’ll show you how I created a Dutch rabbit using Super Sculpey as a temporary internal form.

I’ve been using the newspaper and masking tape technique for years, but it does have it’s drawbacks. It is cheap, but developing small details can be a real challenge. Creating details in Super Sculpey is easy – it’s a wonderful medium for sculpting, but I don’t like the “plastic” look of it after it’s been baked. For that reason, I decided to see what happens if

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How to Make a Paper Mache Bunny Sculpture

Project Difficulty Level: Intermediate. This little paper mache lop-eared rabbit was a lot of fun to make, and only cost a few pennies in materials. I found some wonderful models for my bunny out at MyBunnyBlog.com, and if you happen to live in England you could actually adopt one of the beautiful rabbits they show [...]

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Paper Mache Bluebirds – A 7-Hour Gift Project

Project Difficulty Level: Fairly Easy (and fast!). Today’s paper mache project, these two little bluebirds, started out as a challenge to myself. I wanted to find out if it was possible to create a paper mache gift in just one day. I managed it in seven hours, with plenty of time while the birds were [...]

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How to Make a Paper Mache Whale Wall Hanging

Project Difficulty Level: Intermediate I found a photo of a rare white baby sperm whale in the wonderful book Sperm Whales by Jonathan Gordon. I couldn’t resist the idea of doing a sculptural portrait of this rare baby – is she Moby Dick’s grandaughter? During this project I encountered some challenges, and found a new [...]

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How to Make a Paper Mache Piggy Bank

Project Difficulty Level: Easy to Challenging < Piggy banks can be made with as much detail, or as little, as you like. For that reason, a piggy bank can be a good project for the beginning paper mache sculptor, and just as challenging for the advanced student. To see what I mean, take a look [...]

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How to Make a Paper Mache Dragon

Project Difficulty Level: Challenging My first project for this new blog is a paper mache dragon, which I made in honor of my readers over at my other site, DrawFluffy.com This dragon is made from newspaper, paste, masking tape and paint. The total cost was under $5 – an art project for the true cheapskate! [...]

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