Practical Paper Mache – a Reader-Supported Project
Practical Paper Mache e-Book, by the Readers of UltimatePaperMache.com
Right-Click here to download the Practical Paper Mache e-Book and save it to your computer.
All of the ideas in this free e-book were submitted by our readers, who have graciously given permission to include their photos and descriptions of their own unique (and useful) paper mache creations.
A big thanks to everyone who submitted their ideas for this project – this was really fun. I’ve never worked on such a large collaborative project before, but now I have the bug. What shall we do next?
If you would like to comment on any of the projects in the e-Book and let the artists know how much you like their work, you can find each individual item shown in it’s own online page by following the links below. I know they would all love to hear from you.
If you’re curious, you can read the post that started our Practical Paper Mache project here.
 Paper Mache Napkin Holder/Rings aka Bill Collector – With Moon and Stars Motif Submitted by Sharon Moreno |
 Paper Mache Christmas Ornaments – Both Whimsical and Elegant DesignsSubmitted by Sharon Moreno |
 Paper Mache Toy Boat – Several Happy Children Fit Inside Submitted by Deyana Viktorsson
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 Paper Mache Antler Chandelier – A Truly Unique Lighting Fixture Submitted by Aylin Urgun |
 Paper Mache Organizer – A Wall Unit That’s Perfect for a Studio or Craft Room Submitted by Karin Eichelkraut |
 Paper Mache Roman Box – Decorated With a Potato Stamp in Blue and WhiteSubmitted by Monica Franco |
 Small Paper Mache Side Table – With a Checker-Board DesignSubmitted be Payal Pandey |
 Tortoise Planter – Turn a Slightly Damaged Bowl into a Unique Place for Your PlantsSubmitted by Payal Pandey |
 Paper Mache Pin Cushion – A Collectible Item Made from Found ObjectsSubmitted by June Slack |
 Paper Mache Business Card Holder – an Elegant Way to Display Your CardsSubmitted by June Slack |
 Paper Mache Hat Stand – Custom-Made for Less Than $3Submitted by June Slack |
 Paper Mache Waste Basket – Recycled Basket with an Owl MotifSubmitted by June Slack |
 Paper Mache Bowls, Translucent Sconces, and a Tiny Box – Must-See VideoSubmitted by Paco Ojeda |
 Paper Mache Desktop JunkDrawer – A Great Way to End the ClutterSubmitted by Tani Hughes |
 Paper Mache Waste Paper Basket – Made With Cardboard and Easy Construction Paper Cutout DesignSubmitted by Jonni Good |
 Paper Mache Wall Shelves – Turn Cardboard into Strong and Useful Storage SpaceSubmitted by Tani Hughes |
 Paper Mache Magazine Rack – With Blue Indian MotifSubmitted by Payal Pandey |
 Paper Mache Shoe Storage Rack – A Wall-Hung Storage UnitSubmitted by Tani Hughes |
 Paper Mache CD Storage Shelves - Practical Shelves Using Recycled CardboardSubmitted by Tani Hughes |
 Paper Mache Doll Furniture - A unique set of patio furniture for dolls.Submitted by Christine Majul |
 Paper Mache Egg Cup - A whimsical egg cup, made from paper mache and then covered with three coats of varnish.Submitted by Chris Josephs |
 Paper Mache Fantasy Animal – This unique critter is also a vase for flowers.Submitted by Jelina |
 Paper Mache Photo Prop Egg – A perfect setting for those Easter photos.Submitted by Teri Niemeyer |
 Paper Mache Angel Chair – People love sitting in the chair and having photo’s taken!Submitted by Matthew McCoy |
 Bird Bowl (Kevin from the movie Up) – Have you ever seen such a happy fellow? And he’s practical, too.Submitted by Monica Franco |
 Paper Mache Food Saver Shelf – A custom-made shelf that works perfectly and cost about 37¢.Submitted by Beth Lyons
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 Paper Mache Hot Glue Gun Holster – Just the thing for keeping the heat and glue off the table while you’re working.Submitted by Beth Lyons |
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{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
Jonni, love all the contnet and info you so willing share as well as all the others. But, I have a dilema. mY 8 YEAR OLD SON is doing a project for schol that is going to involve making a paper mache statue of a Bigfoot. He is researching their exististance and has to make a hands on example of what one looks like. I have searched everywhere and thought I’d ask you and your commentators if they have any ideas how to make one standing about 15 inches tall and 2-3 dimensional? Remember this is for an eight year old’s exhibit project for school. Thanks any help would be appreciated. Colleen
Wow – that’s a big assignment for an eight year old. Here are two suggestions:
If it looks possible, he could use the basic instructions for the paper mache panda, but make the arms longer and the yetti standing up. It would be oainted white,I don’t know how he would make it furry, though. This would be a pretty involved project, though. Taping up the crumpled paper would probably require an extra pair of hands.
The easier option would be more two-dimensional, like the projects in James C. Cochrane’s book Paper sculpture. For some of his easier projects he has kids cut out a flat figure from cardboard, cover the cardboard with a few layers of paper mache, and then let it dry. When it’s done it can be painted white. If the snowman’s feet are bent forward before the paper mache is added, it should be possible to prop him up or glue him to a wide cardboard base. That’s the technique I’d use, I think.
Jonni,
Thank you soooo much! At least now I have a starting point and will send you a photo in jpg format of finished Bigfoot. Oh, we are going to buy some brown and black fur and glue it to the outter layer of the sculpture as best we can. Thanks again for your quick reply, sincerely, Colleen
I am trying to make a paper mache globe 7ft. This is for a Christmas parade we are entering this year. I would like it to be strong enough to be mounted, somehow, on a Christmas tree pole placed on a rotating tree stand. My idea is to have the world slowly turning on the float while we are in the parade. Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated!!
This is a new one – With something that huge, you’d almost need to make it hollow so it wouldn’t be excessively heavy. And yet it needs to be strong enough so it won’t be damaged if someone bumps into it, and so it can be securely attached to the stand. This is beyond my engineering experience – if you can possibly snag a copy of Monique Robert’s book, you could use her hollow-crafted sculpture ideas to make your globe. I’ve never seen anything else even close to what you would need for this project.
Good luck with it. And please let us know how it turns out.
Thank you for the paper mache elephant tutorial, we had a fantastic time making ours!! it stood at 5ftish and was used for our local summer carnival for ‘Anna and the King’.
So my grandpa’s birthday is coming up and i was trying to think of a creative way to wrap his gift. i came up with a paper mache ball. i blew up a balloon and covered it with paper mache. after a few layers, i popped the balloon and pulled it out of the paper mache shell. i then cut a hole in the paper mache shell and put his present inside. then i covered the hole with paper mache and let it dry. after that it just looked like a paper mache tear drop. i wrapped it up and gave it to my grandpa. it was amusing, watching him try to figure out what it was that i gave him. I inted to do this same thing with my 5 year old sister’s present in a few months. it is very fun and great for all ages!
What a great idea!
I am aboud to stard a weird and large paper mache project, and i would love to hear comments and/or suggestions from you awesome bloggers. I am about to make a Hand Chair. a photo of one i like can be found at http://www.displaystatues.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=fiberglass+hand+chair by searching “fiberglass hand chair ”. i saw a hand chair when i was a child in a health food store and have been amazed by them ever since. the only problem is, how do i get started? i know i’ll have to build a base, but i’m not sure how, and out of what? i would love your help!
~Leah
Hmm – it has to be really strong, and it has to be balanced so that you don’t fall over backwards. Rebar inside the armature, maybe?
I use PrintShop Pro from Broderbund and a PDF converter program that I bought online. The PDF converter program did not cost a lot and it helped me convert a lot of my ebooks to PDF Files. Broderbund’s Print Shop Pro also comes with a PDF converter program built in. Those programs do not cost an arm and a leg and are easy to use and gives a newbie a chance to get experience.
Thank you Christine,
I’m going to look into this too! It’s looking brighter and brighter for this venture that I can’t wait to get started on.
Regards
I haven’t heard of that program, but I do like the price. I use Serif PagePlus X4 and I really like it. I think they have a free version, too, but I can’t swear to it. It’s very easy to use and creates a PDF with the settings that are required by printers, or you can choose settings that make smaller files for web viewing. I think the company is in England, and they have very good customer support.
Oh, and now I want to write an e-book! By any chance would you mind passing on some tips, tricks, or where an illiterate computer person could go to learn this? I looked into it last year and got so C O N F U S E D, I finally stopped thinking I could ever do this.
Sharon
Hi Sharon. There are now two different (and relatively easy) ways to make an e-book that I know of. One is to just write your book and save it as a PDF. If you have a lot of illustrations, you can use a desktop publishing program instead of Word, just like I did for my paper mache book Make Animal Sculptures With Paper Mache Clay. You can see the programs I used in this video series.
Once you have your PDF you can either send it to a printer or just upload the file to your website’s server so people can freely download it, like I did with our Practical Paper Mache e-book (To download the e-book and save it to your computer, right-click on that link). This seems to be the way to go for a book with illustrations or photos. Adobe has a free online service that will convert a Word file to a PDF, if you don’t have a program on your computer that can do that for you.
If you want to sell the PDF e-book instead of giving it away, you can use the system provided at ClickBank.
If you write a book with no illustrations, you can distribute it through Amazon’s Kindle, which seems to be the way to go if at all possible. There may be ways to get an illustrated book to work with their software – if anyone figures that out, please let me know so we can distribute our Practical Paper Mache e-book through Kindle. They allow free books, I think, and they get a lot more traffic than this blog.
Anyway, it looks like the easiest way to write your e-book for Kindle is to just write it in Word, with very limited formatting. I’ve heard that illustrations, tables and even bullet points get moved around in weird ways by their software. Then you upload it to their server and their program does something or other to it so it can be used in their reader software.
Did I make it even more complicated? I hope not. The thing to know is that it really isn’t complicated at all, in spite of this clumsy explanation. Contact me if you want a more detailed explanation – I’d be happy to help if I can.
Thank You Jonni,
Bless your heart.
Well, it does look a bit intimidating but if there is a way for me to figure this out, I’m certainly going to give it my best shot.
Love that you use the word “easy”…that gives me hope.
Regards
Sharon
Jonni, you did such a nice job on the PRACTICAL PAPER MACHE e-book!
I have no doubt how popular this is going be. And, FREE, be prepared to be stampeded.
I didn’t read any flubs, anywhere. Everyone’s work is showcased outstandingly. You have everything in it…recipes, tips, beautiful photos, instructions, materials…again, you did a wonderful job with this.
Gosh – thanks, Sharon. It’s really OUR ebook, though . You and all the folks who submitted items for this project really did a fantastic job. Isn’t collaboration fun?
It was fun.
It was fun to challenge my mind to think of something practical that I could use.
It was fun so see so many of we PMers get involved and contribute our own unique practical pieces we can and will use.
And it IS fun to see our efforts so nicely presented!
Hello everyone! I wasnt sure where to post this so i thought here was as good as anywhere. I was goofing around on the web the other day and came acrost the website: http://www.kingrahamstudios.com. this lady is an AMAZING artist! her current homepage picture is a paper mache tree troll. i highly reccomend everyone go check out her work just to see how extremely large and detailed paper mache can get! have fun!
~Leah
Lea, the link you gave doesn’t seem to work. Could you try again?
sorry…. i dont know how to make a link, i just typed in the adress.
Oh – now I see – there was just a typo in the link, I think. This one works: http://kimgrahamstudios.com/
I’ve seen Kim’s work before – and I totally agree. Her troll is fabulous. I wonder how she makes it weatherproof.
It astouds me to see her work. I hope to practice and practice untill i can get that good! i wonder if contacting her is possible, and if it is, would she share her weatherproofing secrets?
Kim has a contact link on her site, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask her. If you find out, please let us know!
will do. i’ll let you know if/when she replies!
Here is the email she sent me:
Thank your for your compliments. I had intended that the sequence of pictures on Kimgrahamstudios.com to be as informative as possible. It is wonderful if people can take the ideas and run with them. The photograph when you see the tree troll outside is a bit of a cheat. This sculpture cannot go outside unless it is a bright, sunny, dry day. He cannot even be left outside overnight because the dew would soften him disasterously. Here is an excerpt from another email describing the process….
What I would like to know is how you made it? I saw the pictures and the making of the frame (wood / carton) is quite clear, but then: the paper maché. What kind of glue did you use for it?
Wall paper paste. You can get it in 5 gallon buckets at the local hardware stores.
And the paper, is it special paper or just newspaper or something similar?
There were two types of paper. Brown construction paper is used by contractors to protect floors from paint and debris. Any hardware store here carries it. The other is toilet paper. This gave the really believable wood texture on the surface. Take a small handfull, dip it in the glue, rip it slightly, re-dip and apply.
Do you apply the glue at once on the paper or does it really have to be soaked?
Neither had to be soaked. We just dipped the construction paper in quickly, removed the excess glue off and applied it.
What techniques could be of use as well?
Honestly, one of the very best is this: Sculpt your basic form with aluminum foil glued together with hot glue. Mix ordinary white glue (or ordinary house paint) with fine sawdust to a paste. With a palette knife, apply the paste to the aluminum. This makes a very strong, wood like surface that is simply perfect for sculptures under 4 feet tall. It receives detail beautifully.If you want to go much larger, say bigger than 4 feet, add polypropylene fiber to the mix. This is also called stealth fiber in the concrete industry and is used to vastly increase the strength of that material. It is really cheap, not toxic and reduces the tendency of cracking as it dries.
Also if you use the house paint and apply three coats of spar varnish, this will last for years out doors with bright colors. We call it K-board. The reason K-board works is because you have individually wrapped each particle of wood in a water resistant material, paint. It removes the problem that paper and wood have of being sponges to water and therefore likely to rot.
For going larger, metal lath (expanded metal) for a underlying structure is really good. This is the lightweight stuff that is used for concrete. You can bend it with your hands easily.
I intend to try a lot with styrofoam/polyurethane/polystyrene stuff. Do you have suggestions for that as well?
Avoid them. They are toxic and filthy to work with. Carved foam gets everywhere. The white bead stuff is impossible to clean out of a studio and the polystyrene is itchy and difficult to get off your skin. I really do not like them
Can you put papermache outside?
No, it is unprotected wood and will absorb moisture from the outside weather and from the inside from condensation. The water will deteriorate the paper mache pretty quickly even using wood sealants meant for boats.
Please send me pictures of this and any other work you have done. The best part of sharing information and experience is seeing what others are doing in the field.
Hi Joni,
Like all the ideas, especially the wall shelves and the doll furniture. So useful and creative.
The antler chandellier..now that is really unique. How did you make it? Did you just adjust and extend an existing light fixture? Are you leaving it white? Is it one center light? What kind of final finish did you use?
Thanks for such an interesting site.
June
The chandelier is unique, isn’t it. I hope Aylin is still watching this page so she can give us a few more tips.
Hi Jonni,
Love all these great ideas!
I have a question…would a Christmas ornament be considered practical? I made some for my Etsy shop last Christmas and I think I still have a few pictures in my computer. I used your paper mache recipe for a few (my first batch that I mentioned to your a month or so ago that didn’t quite turn out).
Is there a way to revise that napkin holder I submitted here? I didn’t give instructions for it and I thought that might be helpful for your e-book project.
Also, I have a couple of questions about your post on setting up a website with GoDaddy. I’m not sure where to post that.
Thanks,
Sharon
Hi Sharon. If you would like to revise or add to your page about those beautiful napkin rings, please just send an email with your additions or changes, and I’ll be happy to change it any way you want. I know a lot of people will be downloading the ebook, so anything that would help them recreate your project would be wonderful.
I think it’s perfectly legitimate to call Christmas ornaments “practical.” Maybe we could split hairs if we want to get technical, but why would we want to do that? This is supposed to be a fun project.
I’m not quite sure what you need to know about GoDaddy. How about putting your question about the website over on my build a website blog, and then anyone who has the same question will be able to see it.
Thank you Jonni for getting back to me on my questions.
Elmers glue…. i’ll have to experament with that one and the marine varnish. for now, though, my bedroom is getting pretty cramped… i was also thinking about trying polyeuerethane (that’s probbably spelled way wrong..). i’ll let you guys know how it turns out. We will find a way to make this work!!
good luck!
Hi Jonni, I have been following your site and have made a few paper mache and paper clay animals. What I really would like to know is how everyone is doing with making the items for outside display – I live in Colorado and our weather changes constantly. I just read about using Elmer’s white glue as a gesso to make it waterproof – is that better than the waterproof varnish or is it used along with the varnish – I am at a loss as to what to do except leave my little creatures inside. Thanks to all of you for your comments and enthusiasm.
I haven’t heard that Elmer’s will work to make a piece weatherproof. Some people have had good results using marine varnish, although my own experiment failed because the UV light in our strong sunlight destroyed the plastic. As soon as my baby rhino is finished (which may take quite a while – he’s a very big baby) I’ll experiment with a fairly expensive plastic product that is supposed to have UV inhibitors and it’s supposed to make fabric sculptures waterproof. Since it wasn’t made for paper, I think some experimentation is needed to know if it will work.
In the meantime, I suggest that anyone who really wants their sculptures to go outside should consider sculpting with concrete, instead.
Thanks for your comment -so I guess I’ll forget the outside for now. You have a great site and you saved me a lot of unnecessary worry over my little sculptures. I’ll try something really simple to see how it holds up with just the marine varnish. Thanks again to all the wonderful info. Betty
My latest display of twisted sense of humor (practical, of course!)
http://posterous.paco-ojeda.com/the-fuing-shelf
Love the shelves, Paco. How much weight do you think they’ll hold? (The lettering on the shelves must start some interesting conversations…
)
Thanks Jonni!
Actually, everybody in the office giggled when they saw itlll
I wouldn’t put anything heavy over them. In fact, I am planning to use them just for small paper mache trinkets. (The photos are actually mounted on cardboard.) If you’re intrigued about how I did the support in the back, I’ll gladly take a close-up shot.
Cheers from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,
Paco
Yes, photos of the support structure would be great, if you’re willing to share.
These are all SO great, so creative, so useful, and SO inspiring! I have my idea still only in my head, still too busy to get to it, but these all really get me excited to smash it into my schedule somehow.
Keep ‘em coming!!
I see that your latest greyhound portrait marathon is starting, so I certainly understand how you may be a little busy right now! Keep it in mind, though – I can’t wait to see what you come up with, when you finally have the time.
Mostly greyhounds, so far anyway, but yep, that’s what I’m focusing on right now. (Taking a moment to update my blog, and now back to it!)
Loved the Antler Chandelier and would love to try one myself. Its looking awesome.
I just came back from a very wet week, vacationing in Portland, OR where I grew up. I have to say I AM SO EXCITED about this project! Totally thrilled with all the positive comments and compliments!!!
*Jonnie, have you considered ordering by cost, or level of difficulty with a short chapter for newbies like you said, at the beginning. I can create better supply lists, step-by-step type of guide, and also figure out my ratios to come up with the equivalent of ‘Recipes’ for what I use on my projects if any of that would be helpful. Just shoot me an email.
Yes, I’ll definitely send you that email – right after I get back from the hardware store. Spring projects seem to be taking up so much of my time, and there’s been such a wonderful response to this project, that I’m having a hard time keeping up. Any assistance will be more than welcome. Maybe we can figure out how to split up the work. And if anyone else wants to take charge of the writing for a chapter or two, volunteers are more than welcome.
By the way, I tried using your waterproofing gesso formula, using Sheetrock joint compound and Elmer’s Wood glue. As soon as the glue was mixed into the joint compound, the mixture turned into a solid mass. Has this ever happened to you?
I switched back to the Elmer’s glue all for the gesso, and it worked just fine – I suspect that the product formulas aren’t always the same from one area of the country to another, so it’s not always easy to come up with recipes that work for everyone. Today I’ll pick up another brand of carpenter’s glue from the hardware store and try again.
The projects are so inspiring to me! I especially love that cute little turtle planter, the pincushion and the owl wastebasket, but all the projects make my brain whirl with ideas. Good job everyone – wish I had time to make something to submit!
Dear Jonni, thanx 4 sharing your work with us It inspires me to start thinking of trying my hand at it.Keep sharing and inspiring Bye
attachments size is too large – unfortunatelly that’s the problem – I tried several times. It is “practical” – the kids play in it, but af cours on dry land:)
I did some more things. If this forum didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be doing paper mache – very inspiring to read. Lots of action too, many different questions, lots of info….thank you
Dang – we’d love to see it. I think it’s great to make things kids can play with without spending big bucks at Wal-Mart. Can you edit your photos to be smaller? Most digital cameras come with software that lets you crop them or save them in a small size for emails – that would be perfect for the web. If not, contact me and I’ll try to see how we can make it work.
Dear Jonni, thank you for being so helpful ! I got this time the message – Attachment file type not allowed” . I’ ve compress them by “rar”- ing them. What about if I put them on facebook for you – it is so easy and without problems? I will try the “comtact me” now.
Facebook would work just fine – just go ahead and use the submission form and add a link to your facebook page in the message area. By the way, has anyone else had problems getting attachments to attach to the submission form? And Deyana, were your photos saved as .jpg or jpeg’s? (I’m way behind on the technology – I have no idea what “rar”-ing means. Sigh – I just can’t keep up…)
I just send an email to you with some photos, I have to stop for today. I might be confusing with my English: the “rar” is when you drop a menu – it comes resize and email, resize and….one of them is this option which contents the “rar” and resizes without to email /as I don’t have an email, but hotmail – I can’t use this combined optioin/. I am very behide in the computer technology – otehrwise, I should have managed already to upload the photos.
Good night from Thailand, hope we are togheter tomorrow again.
Dear Jonny,
how to upload few photos of the boat I made? Couldn’t find out. It was so nice to see all the photos on this page.
We would love to see your boat. If it’s actually functional (in whatever way you want to define that word) you can submit it for this page with this form. (I just fixed the form so it will accept more than one photo.) If your boat is more of a decorative item, you can put it on any post of this site using the instructions found here.
The only helpful comment I can give right now is that this is incredible, Jonni! What a great idea!
Beatiful work!
I honestly didn’t know paper mache was strong enough for shelves and such.
THESE BOXES AND MATTER OF FACT ALL THE ITEMS ARE EXTREMLY BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIRING. THE BOX RESEMBLES THE ONES MADE IN KASHMIR,INDIA.
I WOULD LOVE TO MAKE ONE.
I know it’s a little early to be worrying about it, but I could use some suggestions about how to organize the eBook for this project that will be produced in early June. We’re getting so many wonderful submissions. One big question – do you think I should start writing a chapter on basic paper mache techniques, to make it easier for newbies to reproduce some of these projects? Anything else come to mind that might be needed? This is a group project, so all ideas are welcome, as always.
LOVE the drawer idea! My mind instantly went to the priority boxes I put in the recycle (since I already have saved more than I can really give space to!) I’m goint to do this one, for sure.
Love the lightweight storage units on the wall. I have a room full of yarn that needs improved storage…those will be perfect!
I have tried using wood glue for paper mache with the blue paper towels for texture and strechiness, but found that the towels absorbed so much glue that the objects wouldn’t dry. The outside dried and became water tight before the inside layers could dry. Had to cut the animals apart to let them dry from the inside too. Then, once completed, they were very brittle and broke easily.
Might be useful for pinatas.
Now if I want something to be waterproof, I might put a top layer of wood glue but use glue all or flour for the inside layers.
Nice idea to use wood glue to waterproof forms though…and gives me something to do with the gallon container I still have of it!
Patti
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