Papier-mâché is an original technique that is now widely used in schools and gardens as a method of handicraft. The name came from French and is translated as “crumpled paper.” Learning how to create crafts is not at all difficult, since papier-mâché is not a complicated technique. In addition, this method is interesting to many because it does not require spending a lot of money on materials. After all, to make a beautiful piece of furniture, a toy will only need an old newspaper, or toilet paper, glue, paints and imagination. It is enough to watch the master class once to be convinced of this.

Initially, the papier-mâché technique was used when making dolls with their own hands.

Now this method is widely used for making:

• Teaching aids;
• dummies;
• Masks;
• Toys;
• Theater props;
• Casket.

Professional craftsmen even make furniture accessories and lighting fixtures from papier-mâché.

For beginners creating crafts, there is one simple rule - show maximum imagination and be patient.

Products are created in three ways. First, the paper is soaked in water, thawed for 1 hour, and wrung out. Any glue can be added to it - PVA, wood glue, paste. All ingredients are mixed until smooth. It should have the consistency of sour cream. In some cases, a mixer is used for mixing. From this composition you can sculpt crafts, create three-dimensional products, you can see which ones by watching a master class.

The second method is to glue small pieces of newsprint in several layers to a specific base.

After creating the craft, decoration is done with paints, beads, seed beads, colored paper, and varnish.

As a basis for products, you can use anything that comes to hand - balloons, balls, vases, bottles, plates, wire frames.

Papier-mâché: animals

A master class on creating animal figures is offered by many papier-mâché professionals. But, it is not necessary to have an art education. After all, you can conduct a master class at home with your child. Making animals with your own hands using the papier-mâché technique is not at all difficult.

Giraffe: master class

The frame of a future craft in the form of a giraffe is made from rigid wire. Soak toilet paper in warm water. Some even use paper egg boxes. After mixing the paper with glue, you can start creating a masterpiece with your own hands. An adhesive mixture is applied to the frame and the body of the animal is formed. The technique is similar to modeling with plasticine.

After one part is applied to the wire, you need to let the layer harden. Then apply another layer, forming the tail, ears and face of the giraffe. Let dry. Each layer must be dry, otherwise nothing will work. When the body is ready, you can move on to decorating. Using gouache, paint the body yellow, brown make spots. Eyes and mouth - with black marker. After the paint has dried, coat with varnish.

DIY sheep

To create a sheep you will need plastic frames from chocolate eggs, cotton wool, paper, paints, and PVA glue. The surface of the frame should be treated with vegetable oil before starting work. This will help you later remove the plastic base without any obstacles. The adhesive composition prepared in advance is applied to the frame halves in a layer of about 3-4 mm. After hardening, the base is removed and the halves are glued together. Accordingly, you need to prepare two blanks: for the body and head.

The legs are made either from paper, by twisting it into a tube, or from wire, which must then be attached to the body and adhesive material applied to each of them. After drying, coat the figure with PVA glue and apply cotton balls on it. The more balls, the larger the sheep will be. The eyes are cut out of paper, the ears are formed from cotton wool and glued. You can clearly see the process by watching the master class.

Plate made using papier-mâché technique

Using papier-mâché, you can make original interior items with your own hands. The master class shows that professionals create plates, paintings, and exquisite kitchen lamps. Making a plate with your own hands is as easy as shelling pears.

For this you will need:

1. Shallow dish;
2. Newspapers;
3. PVA glue;
4. Cling film or tape;
5. Paints;
6. White acrylic paint;
7. Brushes.

The newspaper should be torn into small pieces and moistened with water. The plate is wrapped in cling film. The first layer of newspaper pieces is applied to the plate base without glue. Subsequent layers must be coated with PVA or paste. The more layers, the stronger and more durable the craft will be.

You need to know that after every 5-6 layers you need to let the paper dry, removing air bubbles.

The surface of the plate is covered with acrylic paint. In the future, it can be decorated with any color - brown, red, green. Some take napkins with various images as a basis for the design and glue them to the plate after covering them with acrylic. When the base color is applied, the edges of the napkin will not be visible.

Papier-mâché: box

Master class from the best masters proves what to do with your own hands beautiful crafts even a child can do it.

To make a box you need to prepare:

• Cardboard cylinders from adhesive tape;
• Scotch tape (can be replaced with masking tape);
• Glue;
• Sheets of thick and thin cardboard;
• Newspaper;
• Scissors, pencil;
• Primer material;
• Lace or braid;
• Beads, seed beads, artificial stones;
• Gouache, brush;
• Transparent nail polish.

The basis of the box will be cylinders from adhesive tape, respectively used. They can be replaced with cardboard, thick cylinders from photographic paper. Some people use regular cardboard, coated with glue and dried.

Depending on the size, you will need 1, 2 or 3 blanks. The more there are, the higher the box will be. The bases must be glued together with glue or masking tape.

An obligatory step is making the bottom for the box. To do this, place the base on a cardboard sheet and draw a circle from the inside with a pencil, which is then cut out and glued to the base with glue. The lid is made in the same way, only the circle is outlined with outside+ 2-3 mm. The box must have a side. You can make it from cardboard. To do this, a strip 15 mm wide is cut. Using glue, the side is glued to the base.

Having kneaded the newspapers well, you should tear them into small pieces. Now you can start gluing the base of the box. It is necessary to apply newspaper sections in such a way that a base without gaps is obtained. Number of layers – 8-9. After every 3 layers you need to let the craft dry. Uneven edges are trimmed with scissors.

The box does not have to have smooth contours. With the help of an adhesive composition, it is possible to add flowers, make the box into a house, decorating it with a window, bricks and a door, as your imagination dictates.

Toilet paper is soaked in water and wrung out. PVA glue is also added here. It is better to mix the composition with a mixer until it reaches the consistency of sour cream. From this mixture you can mold, like plasticine, any decorative element for a box.

The master class shows that specialists make patterns, ornaments, and drawings. Natural elements look very beautiful in the design - spruce branches, shells, coffee beans and much more. On the lid of the box you can make a beautiful large flower or pattern from the adhesive mixture. After all the elements have hardened, the surface of the box is covered with a primer material. If there are roughness or unevenness on the surface or patterns, all defects can be easily removed using sandpaper or a thin file. After priming, white acrylic paint is applied to the entire surface of the box. As soon as it dries, you can pick up paints and paint the craft. If you plan to decorate with beads, braid, or velvet, all these elements are glued to the box with glue. The final stage is to treat the surface with a transparent nail coating. This is done in order to secure the elements of the box and the paint.

Papier-mâché allows you to make your own crafts that will not only become excellent decorative elements for different rooms, but also wonderful, memorable gifts.

Papier-mâché: vegetables and fruits

After watching a master class on making crafts using the papier-mâché technique once, you can be convinced that the procedure, although lengthy, is not at all complicated.

An excellent decorative element for the kitchen is a papier-mâché plate with artificial fruits, which are also made using this technique. If desired, you can create not only fruits, but also vegetables.

Any real fruit or vegetable is covered with cling film and an adhesive composition (toilet paper, glue) is applied to the surface. After drying, the layer is cut into two parts, the base is removed, and the halves of the craft are glued together with glue. Then the fruit or vegetable is primed and painted with gouache in the appropriate color. Afterwards the surface is covered with a fixative – transparent nail varnish.

DIY papier-mâché for beginners (video)

Thus, you can create artificial vegetables and fruits, animal figures and other decor that are as close in shape and appearance as possible to natural ones.

DIY papier-mâché for beginners (photo)

See what papier-mâché dolls you can make using toilet paper. From the same material you will make a piggy bank, toys, and New Year's crafts.

How to make a papier-mâché piggy bank with your own hands?

You will make such a funny tiger cub if you take:

• two sheets of white paper;
• newspapers;
• plasticine;
• small polyurethane jar;
• PVA glue;
• scissors;
• paste;
• gouache;
• stationery knife;
• thin and thick brush;
• acrylic pistachio varnish.

Prepare the paste. To do this, take a glass of cold water, pour it into the pan, pour 2 tsp here. starch, stir well. Place the container on the fire, stirring frequently, bring the liquid to a boil, and remove from the stove. When the paste has cooled, it is ready for use.

Remove the lid from the jar, turn the container over, and place it on the table. Covering the jar with plasticine, immediately form the ears, eyes, paws, and facial features of the tiger cub. Here's how to make a piggy bank next.

Tear the newspapers into small pieces and start covering the workpiece with them. Attach the first layer with water. The remaining 10 layers need to be fixed by smearing each piece of newspaper with paste.

Leave the workpiece overnight to dry. In the morning, cover it with pieces of white paper, which must be attached using PVA glue, which will give the product strength.

Let the toy dry completely, then cut it into two halves with a utility knife.

Remove these parts from the jar, connect them again, gluing them at the cut site with white pieces of paper greased with PVA.

At the top, use a stationery knife to make a cut of such a size that you can drop coins of the desired denomination into the piggy bank through this hole.

Now go over the outer surface of the piece with white gouache to prime it. When it dries, paint the product in the desired color.

Here's how to make a piggy bank from paper and newspapers. If you want to see how to make a funny pig, which is also designed to store and multiply small items, then check out the second master class.

This is how touching and at the same time funny the pig will turn out to be. To do it, use:

• inflatable ball;
• toilet paper;
• acrylic paints;
• construction PVA;
• foil;
• newspapers;
• toothpicks;
• acrylic putty.

Inflate the balloon and tie it. Tear the newspapers into small pieces and mix the glue in a container with water in a 1:1 ratio. Dip pieces of paper into this mass and attach them to the ball. You need to paste newspapers in several layers.

You can first moisten pieces of newspaper in water, then dip them in PVA, shaping the surface of the ball, and glue torn pieces of paper here.

We make a mass for papier-mâché; to do this, quite large pieces are torn off from toilet paper. Place them in a container to which you need to add PVA. After this, all that remains is to mix the contents well. Now, using a sponge or hands wearing rubber gloves, apply this mixture to the ball covered with newspapers.

When it dries well, make a puncture with a needle. Take out the burst ball through the bottom hole. Cover the hole with two strips of masking tape that are applied in a criss-cross pattern. Legs for a piggy bank can be made from a reel left over from foil or stretch film. These cardboard tubes need to be cut into 4 parts with a knife. If you want, you can use toilet paper rolls.

These blanks need to be attached to the base with masking tape, and papier-mâché paste should also be applied on top.

Make a patch from a piece of foil, attaching it with toothpicks and tape. Cover it with toilet paper soaked in glue and form a nose.

You will need to sculpt eyes from it and attach them in place with glue. Ears can be made from papier-mâché or clay

Now you need to leave the piggy bank so that the papier-mâché dries well. Then we sand the workpiece with sandpaper, after which we apply acrylic putty to it. We wait for it to dry, then wipe the piggy bank with a damp cloth to level the product. Apply putty in several layers until the surface is smooth.

Use a utility knife to make a hole for coins. We attach a tail, which must be made in advance from wire and papier-mâché.

We begin to paint the product. First we apply any dark paint, then, using a sponge, cover it with red.

Next comes pink color, after it - a mixture of white and pink. The next layer is white paint, but you only need a little bit of it.

All that remains is to paint the eyes, after which the papier-mâché piggy bank is ready.

How to make paper modeling paste with your own hands?

The base is not always simply covered with torn newspapers; there are very interesting recipes for preparing papier mache paste. Meet one of them.

From such a mass you can make a figurine of an animal, for example, a bear. Take:

• 2 rolls of the cheapest gray toilet paper;
• 3 tbsp. l. linseed oil;
• 500 ml of universal or construction PVA glue of liquid consistency;
• 1.5 liters of water;
• gauze;
• large bowls;
• medium and fine sandpaper;
• colander;
• PVA glue.

Finely tear the toilet paper, put it in a bowl, and fill it with water. It should completely cover the paper. Leave the mixture to soak overnight.

Now you need to squeeze out the paper. To do this, place gauze folded in several layers on a colander, put a little mass here, some of the water will drain. Remove the rest by lifting the edges of the gauze and squeezing out the paper. Also squeeze out the rest, but do not dry it out, leave a little water.

Place all this paper in a large bowl, then add construction adhesive. Stir the mass. This will be easier to do if you mix the paper and glue in small portions.

Add flaxseed oil and stir. It will allow the mass to become more plastic. Now you can sculpt from papier-mâché or put this mass into molds to make toy parts. You will glue using PVA, which is called “Moment joiner”.

When the papier-mâché blanks are completely dry within a few days, they will need to be sanded with medium, then fine sandpaper.

The finished product is primed and then painted.

Master class: DIY Baba Yaga's hut

It can also be made from a mass whose recipe you just learned or use another one. This is how the house of this fairy-tale character will turn out.

But for this you need to work hard, but first prepare:

• a bottle of suitable size and shape;
• napkins;
• stack;
• PVA glue;
• ruler;
• pencil;
• mass for papier-mâché.

Cover the bottle with napkins using PVA glue. Using a pencil and a ruler, mark the logs, doors, and windows on it.

Starting from the bottom, papier-mâché paste is glued in strips. Decorate both sides at once, forming circles in the form of log cuts.

Using a stack, make stripes on doors and logs so that they convey the texture of wood.

Make smaller details of the door.

Let the house dry for 24 hours.

Make a window and shutters from papier-mâché mixture. Using a stack, decorate them with carvings. We begin to make the attic, in the photo it is pink.

Such elements need to be made above the window and above the door, then we design the roof.

Having made a row on one side and the other, leave it to dry, only after that make another tier.

Then complete the third row and pipe.

Use a stack to create a brick pattern here, then give these elements a roundness.

There will be another row at the top of the pipe. Then we decorate the wall with fly agarics from polymer clay.

Leave the house to dry completely. After that you need to paint it.

Baba Yaga's hut is ready.

DIY papier-mâché dolls

I can’t even believe that such wonderful works of art can be created from toilet paper.

To make such a Snow Maiden, take:

• an empty glass bottle in the shape of a trapezoid;
• copper wire;
• pliers;
• papier mache mass made from toilet paper;
• rubber glue;
• polymer clay;
• cotton wool;
• elastic bandage or well-stretchable fabric;
• scissors;
• paints;
• fabric for clothing;
• satin ribbon for hair;
• rhinestones for decoration.

Take an empty bottle and wrap a wire around the neck.

Cut a piece of wire with pliers and wrap it around the neck to make the arms of a papier-mâché doll.

Moisten the elastic bandage with rubber glue and wrap it around the workpiece.

Now grease this bandage on top with PVA glue, attach papier-mâché here, forming the chest and back of the doll.

Make a head for her from the same mass.

To use less papier-mâché, you can first wrap the top wire with foil, then cover it with this mass, forming facial features and ears.

Leave the workpiece to dry completely, then sand it and apply putty. After it dries, it also needs to be treated with sandpaper.

To make hands, moisten cotton wool with an aqueous solution of PVA glue and apply it to the wire. Wrap with an elastic bandage or strip of fabric soaked in glue. Make brushes from polymer clay. Paint the doll using flesh color, mark the eyes, eyebrows, lips with appropriate shades.

Sew for a doll petticoat and a dress made of cardboard. By unraveling a brown satin ribbon, you will get such luxurious shiny hair. It will take a lot of time to make such a papier-mâché doll, but the materials will cost little, and what a luxurious result awaits you!

If you want to get acquainted with another example, then watch the second master class in this section.

You will get such a wonderful doll on a horse. To make this duet you will need:

• toilet paper;
• wire;
• cardboard;
• Styrofoam;
• strong thick thread;
• newspapers;
• foil;
• acrylic paints;
• foam ball.

Cover the ball with several layers of newspaper. If you don’t have such a ball, then you can twist this figure from just newspapers. Place the head blank on a piece of wire so that it is in the middle. Bend the edges of the wire down. Wrap the hero's legs separately with newspapers soaked in liquid PVA, then cover the wire above this place with them, connecting both edges.

Give the doll the desired shape by covering it with papier-mâché.

Let's make a horse. Bend the wire as in the photo and wrap it with foil.

Coat this blank with papier-mâché mixture.

When it is thoroughly dry, stick two pieces of wire into it to make the legs of the animal.

Cover the top of the piece with damp papier-mâché. Let the horse dry thoroughly. Now we need to add volume to both blanks; for this we also use papier mache, including to make the ears and nose of the prince. We make the horse’s ears from cardboard, cutting out parts of the appropriate shape. Sand the workpieces.

Trim the excess wire on the animal's legs, add a mane, tail, and muscles to the prince. Cut a strip with zigzag edges from cardboard, cover it with newspapers, and roll it into a crown. Cover with papier-mâché.

After finishing with sandpaper, the doll will look like this.

Glue on the crown using papier-mâché. We use the same mass to connect two heroes.

For the platform, a piece of foam plastic is used, which must be covered with newspapers.

Cut out the wheels from cardboard using coins as a template. Also cover them with newspapers and papier mache.

Apply the same mixture on top in 4 places of the cart to attach the horse.

Sand the workpieces, then paint them.

Let's create them using the same papier-mâché technique. If you want these funny hedgehogs to be on your Christmas tree, then proceed to creative work right now.

To create them, you will also need materials that do not need to be purchased - the savings are obvious. Take:

• two toilet paper rolls;
• cones;
• papier mache mass;
• cotton pads;
• paints;
• plasticine;
• Titan glue;
• two wooden skewers;
• brush;
• sparkles.

At the top, fold the cardboard over sleeves 1 and 2. Place cotton pads greased with PVA here, make a cone out of them, stick them in with a wooden skewer.

Disassemble the cones into scales, glue them on one side of the roll, as well as on the sides. Form rows starting from the bottom, arranging the elements of subsequent rows in a checkerboard pattern. Use Titan glue for this.

At the beginning of the article, you read how to make papier mache paste from toilet paper. You can use other similar materials, such as paper towels. In this master class, napkins were used for this purpose. yellow color, their color does not matter. Form the body and nose of a hedgehog from this mass.

Let it dry, make the front legs, attach them to the tummy, using the same mass. Here's what interesting crafts on New Year 2017 is working out. But for now we need to let our hedgehogs dry well, then cover the arms and tummy beige color, and then also brown. We paint the animal spines in the reverse order - first we use a brown tone, then beige or white. Then the hedgehog’s coat will look like it’s dusted with snow.

Make eyes, eyebrows, mouth, nose out of plasticine, sculpt a mushroom, attach it between the animal’s arms.

If you want, you can make lower legs for the animal from plasticine or plastic, placing them on the ends of the laces, the middle of which is threaded through the upper hole. You can attach a bell so that when the hedgehog moves, it makes interesting sounds.

These are the most wonderful and interesting crafts you can make for the New Year.

Make them with your children. If it’s difficult for the kids to do this, then tell them interesting idea creating papier-mâché cakes that they will be happy to bring to life. Let the child make these as a New Year's treat for his dolls and toys.

To do this, place next to it:

• foil;
• cardboard;
• two bowls;
• not a food spoon;
• newspapers;
• paper towels or a cloth to dry your hands.

Cover the table with newspapers in advance and cover it with plastic wrap. Then the child will not stain the work surface.

Let him tear or cut the newspapers into small pieces and put them in a separate container. In the other you need to pour the paste. It is prepared like this: pour a glass of water into a saucepan, add 2 tsp. flour or starch, mix. Place on the fire and bring to a vigorous boil while stirring vigorously. Let the paste cool and pour it into a bowl.

Let your child roll the foil into balls.

You need to make a box from a sheet of cardboard. Look at the diagram to see how to cut its sides, fold them, and glue them.

Everything is ready, it’s time to start making crafts for the New Year with your own hands, the photo will show how to make it.

Everything you need is on the table. Let the child dip the lumps in the foil in the paste, then attach pieces of paper here.

Then you need to leave the craft for several days so that the glue dries well. If this is not done, the work may begin to mold.

When the cakes are well dry, let the child give free rein to his imagination. Using paints, small red pompoms, and finely chopped colored pieces of paper, you can make this festive treat for dolls.

Once the paint is dry, it’s time to arrange these cakes to decorate the toy table.

Using the same technique, you can make other children's crafts for the New Year. With their own hands they will construct blanks from foil, which must be covered with pieces of newspaper. This process has just been described. To attach the toy to the Christmas tree, at this stage you need to tie a carpet ring with a lace or rope, as was done in the photo tip.

This is followed by another 2-3 layers of paper mache made from newspapers, after which the Christmas tree decorations need to be painted.

Now you can make papier-mâché dolls, New Year's toys from the same material, a piggy bank. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the process of making an apple. It turns out so realistic that you should immediately warn both guests and family that the fruit is not edible.

If you want to see how to make papier mache paste, then watch the second story.

Papier-mâché is an ancient art that has not lost its popularity. Try this simple creativity and find a source for new masterpieces in it!

Papier mache - simple technique making three-dimensional objects using paper and paste. Even with the advent of various plastic masses (super plastics), papier-mâché does not lose its popularity, remaining indispensable for some types of creativity (for example, masks). Commit short excursion into the history of this unusual technology and find out what options there are for its use, how to make papier-mâché with your own hands, and how this activity will be useful.

History of paper art

The papier-mâché technique is time-tested, because its history goes back several thousand years! The ancient Egyptians made death masks using layers of papyrus interspersed with adhesive. In Persia, laminated paper was used to make decorative items, including chests and goblets. Often, thin metal plates were applied on top of the paper layer.

The strength of papier-mâché products with a large number of layers was noted back in ancient China- there they began to use this technique to produce armor and shields that could protect a warrior not only from an arrow, but also from a blow from a sword.

Repeated coating with natural varnishes added additional strength to the material. In addition, ceremonial masks were made from this material in Japan and China, decorative elements for a military suit, home decor items (boxes, vases) and even buttons.

Often the surface of the products was coated with glossy varnish and thus, luxurious-looking things were obtained from relatively cheap material. In India, papier-mâché could be found at any craft market in the form of richly ornamented household items.

Since the 17th century, papier-mâché began to be actively used in France, and then in England, in puppetry - this technique was the best way to reproduce the delicate features of doll faces. The big advantage was the high strength of the material. Unlike porcelain, the finished papier-mâché product was not fragile, and was also much lighter than wood.

In the 18th century, papier-mâché became an inexpensive alternative to architectural stucco and carved wood, and later the technique was even used to make furniture elements (such as chair backs) and church utensils.

To this day, papier-mâché is widely used in film production and theater for the manufacture of props (dummies of various things: weapons, dishes, jewelry, interior items, imitation of reliefs in the landscape or architectural structures), applied elements for makeup (noses, chins), stage details costume (hats, masks).

Minimum funds and maximum benefits

Papier-mâché is one of the few types of creativity that will be of interest to almost everyone, because there are a huge number of options for products made from laminated paper, and the process of working in this technique does not require artistic training or specific knowledge. Despite the fact that paper is used for this type of creativity, it has nothing in common with other paper hobbies, weaving from paper tubes.

The advantages of this hobby are obvious:

• it does not require material costs;
• he does not need a large workplace;
• you can do without special skills;
• the technique is an extremely simple process that even a preschool child can master;
• a wide creative spectrum (making dolls, masks, figurines, boxes, elements for jewelry, Christmas decorations, lampshades);
• suitable for making items of any size;
• finished products are highly durable and do not require special care.

What you need for classes and first crafts

As already noted, papier-mâché is a very economical form of creativity. The main thing you need for papier-mâché is thin paper and glue (PVA, carpentry, stationery, gelatin or starch paste). There are two fundamentally different options this technique:

• pieces of paper are glued in layers onto the finished form;
• An elastic mass is prepared from paper and paste, from which an object is formed.

Everyone can include this hobby in their list of hobbies; success awaits only those who do not like to give up what they started. Qualities that will be useful when working with papier-mâché:

• perseverance;
• accuracy;
• a little imagination.

Features of layer-by-layer technology and work process

The first option (from pieces) is suitable for making masks, doll heads, figurines, and boxes. The surface of the finished products can be sanded, so achieving ideal smoothness is very easy. The entire work process can be divided into several stages.

First stage

Prepare thin paper (newspaper works well). To do this, you can cut or tear it into pieces, their size depends on the intended size of the product - for small works it can be 1x1 cm, for large ones up to 4x4, 4x10 cm. Torn paper will make the surface of the product smoother than cut paper.

Prepare a form on which the paper will be glued. To do this, you can take either a ready-made object or one sculpted from plasticine or clay (for example, a doll’s head).

If you take a finished item as a papier-mâché base, remember that to obtain a three-dimensional shape, you will need to cut the finished papier-mâché into two halves to get the base shape, and then glue them together. Therefore, the base may be damaged when cut. For a spherical shape you can take balloon, which, upon completion of work, can be removed through a previously left hole in the layers of paper.

To make the finished papier-mâché easy to separate from the base (both ready-made and molded), it is recommended to grease the mold with Vaseline or wrap it in cling film before applying the first layer of paper.

Second phase

Cover the mold with layers of paper. The number of layers depends on the desired thickness and strength - the minimum number is 4-5, the maximum is not limited, but already with 15 layers the wall thickness of the product will be about 0.5-0.7 cm, so there is usually no point in making more layers than this number.


To evenly cover the form with paper, it is convenient to alternate layers different colors- this way it will be clear when to start a new one.

Third stage

Dry the product well (for 24 hours) and remove from the mold. If a cut is required for removal, it is convenient to make it with a sharp paper knife. After removing the mold, you need to stick pieces of paper on the inside of the product along the cut so that half of the piece extends beyond the cut, then coat them with glue and attach the second half of the product.

You also need to seal the joint line of the halves on the outside with two layers of paper and, for strength, cover the entire form with another layer of papier-mâché (if further painting is planned, it is better to use a layer of white paper).


A well-dried product can be sanded using fine-grained sandpaper.
You can paint papier-mâché with any paint, but it is best to use acrylic - it will not rub off from the shape and dries quickly. If desired, papier-mâché is opened with varnish.

Modeling from paper pulp

The second version of papier-mâché (made from paper pulp) is suitable for forming finished products using the method of simple modeling or modeling on a frame. By the way, the very name of the technique is translated from French as “chewed paper.” There are quite a lot of recipe options for preparing the mass, and after several trials you will find your own optimal ratio ingredients.

Usually it is made this way: soak newsprint, cardboard from boxes or egg trays, or toilet paper in warm water, leave it for several hours, periodically kneading it with your hands (you can put it on the stove to keep the water warm).

After soaking, the mass is carefully squeezed out and crushed with a blender or in a meat grinder (a more labor-intensive option is rubbed through a sieve). Next, add glue to the mass and knead until the homogeneous elastic mass stops sticking to your hands.


The formed product dries completely in 2-3 days - you should not dry it on a radiator, as this can lead to cracks. The dried mass becomes hard and very light. It can also be sanded and painted in the same way as or.

Useful and enjoyable activity

As has already been noted, using the papier-mâché technique you can make absolutely different types products, this great way make both decorative works and things for practical use in the home. Using this technique, you can imitate more expensive materials, such as metal, stone or ceramics.

Cat's house

Working with papier-mâché calms you down, helps you focus on the process and take a break from everyday worries, and develops creative thinking. Starting with simple and common products, you will quickly move on to selling your own creative ideas.

Step-by-step master classes for beginners

To make it easier for you to move from plans and doubts to action, our needlewomen have prepared step-by-step instructions with photos. Taking master classes as a basis, you will quickly master the pape-mâché technique and learn how to create your own masterpieces worthy of imitation.

Let's try to make a copy of some papier-mâché cutlery. You probably worked with papier-mâché at school, because the technology for creating it is very simple, although it requires perseverance and accuracy. Our instructions will help you remember your “youth”!

To create the simplest papier-mâché, namely making dishes from it, you will need very few tools and materials:

• scissors
• starch or flour based glue
• “paste” (you can use PVA glue)
• any utensil
• tassel
• paper (newspaper is fine)

Process

First you need to prepare a “paste”, a glue based on flour or starch. Of course, you can use standard PVA glue, but the paste is still more convenient and practical: it is made from natural materials, which means it is non-toxic and non-poisonous.

1. Mix pure starch (or flour) with a small amount of cold water until all lumps disappear completely. Then, stirring gently, pour boiling water into the starch and bring to heat. Heat the mixture until a transparent mass is obtained.
2. Next, start cutting paper for papier-mâché. Using scissors, finely cut the paper into strips and various shapes. During the creation process, any pieces of paper will suit you.
3. Apply with a brush reverse side dishes (in our case, a saucer). Begin carefully, trying not to go beyond the boundaries of the dish, gluing pieces of paper onto the saucer. Try to cover the entire area with an even layer. Repeat until the thickness of the paper layer reaches the size you need.
4. It should be noted that all operations with papier-mâché can be carried out in several stages, each time waiting for the previous layer to dry.
5. After finishing work, let the paper dry for 24 hours.
6. After waiting a day, pry the edge of the paper layer with the tip of scissors or a knife and gradually begin to remove the resulting “cast.” After this, trim the uneven edges with scissors and begin decorating the resulting dishes.
7. Various watercolor and acrylic paints will help you with this. To begin with, you can paint the dishes with one layer of paint, a kind of primer. And then apply patterns and any other illustrations on top of it. Don't limit your imagination.
8. The finished papier-mâché can be varnished to make the design glossy. In addition, this will make the dishes stronger and more durable.

I hope that this modest detail will add a piece of comfort and warmth to your interior.

Evgenia Smirnova

To send light into the depths of the human heart - this is the purpose of the artist

18 Mar 2014

Content

Compared to other types of handicraft, papier-mâché stands out for its versatility and originality. Now you will learn what the rules are for making papier-mâché and how to make simple but very beautiful things from it.

To make a souvenir, gift or just a useful thing, you don’t have to be a master of pottery. You can stock up on more unnecessary paper and start creating. We will now look in more detail at how to make papier-mâché from what is at hand. Thanks to these recommendations, you will easily learn all the intricacies of this matter, understanding the main difficulties and nuances.

History of papier-mâché

Papier-mâché is a homogeneous mass created from paper waste with the addition of any adhesive. Translated from French, this name translates as “chewed paper.” This composition was first used in the 16th century in France. Even then, paper pulp dolls became incredibly popular. In Russia, papier-mâché appeared only under Peter I, and its industrial use began at the beginning of the 19th century.

A huge number of products are made from papier-mâché. Thanks to their composition, they are particularly light but durable. If initially the mass was used only for creating dolls, then later it began to be used for making dishes, souvenirs, masks, toys, and decorative elements. But papier-mâché is especially indispensable in theater arts, where they make dummies and theatrical props from it.

Methods for creating paper pulp

Today there are only three ways to create a mass of papier-mâché:

• The simplest is layer-by-layer technology. Small pieces of paper are placed on a pre-prepared mold made of clay, plaster or other material. In some cases, the number of superimposed layers can reach up to a hundred. As a rule, for this purpose several strips are cut and placed on top of each other in different directions.
• It is especially important that the strip is coated with glue on both sides, which will subsequently ensure the strength of the finished product. As soon as the first layers of 3-4 pieces are created, it is necessary to thoroughly dry the product. Only after this they continue to work, drying every 4 layers. Further work directly depends on the purpose of the craft.
• A more ancient method is the production of papier-mâché from paper pulp. To do this, tear newspaper or other paper into small pieces and soak in hot water for 8-10 hours. Next, heat the mixture to break down the fibers. Using a colander, drain the water and grind the paper into a homogeneous mass (with a mixer or blender). Add paste or glue to it, depending on the chosen method. The result is a homogeneous mass, which is as easy to work with as with plasticine.
• The third method is more complex and is often used in industrial settings. Sheets of cardboard are placed on top of each other and coated with adhesive, after which they are pressed. As soon as the workpiece dries, it is sanded and painted. This technique produces flat elements that require special strength.

How to prepare material for working with papier-mâché

Any instructions regarding the creation of papier-mâché begin with the preparation of the necessary supplies. First of all, it is paper. For the first time, use newspaper. It gets wet easily, and the finished product will be especially durable. It’s just as easy to work with regular toilet paper or napkins. In addition to the above, egg cartons, cardboard, including corrugated cardboard, and other similar paper products are suitable.

Ready-made glue is used as an adhesive composition. As a rule, it is PVA diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio. At home, starch or flour can be used to prepare the paste. The density of the composition depends on work experience and the type of product being manufactured.

In addition, you will need a base or mold for modeling, vegetable oil with which to lubricate its surface to prevent the mass from sticking to the mold, acrylic paint and varnish. If you don’t have special paint, you can mix gouache and PVA glue in equal parts. This composition is easily washed off from the product when it has not yet completely dried, and after complete drying it does not smear even when applying subsequent layers or varnish.

Before you work on paper, you need to prepare a paste. To do this, boil a small amount of water. In a separate bowl, mix 2-3 tablespoons of flour or starch with water until smooth. Pour this mixture into boiling water in a thin stream and heat until thickened. The more starch or flour you add, the thicker your paste will be. It is much easier to prepare glue. To do this, pour the required amount of glue into a separate container and add the same amount of water, stirring thoroughly.

The selected material (newspaper or paper) must be crushed. This work is painstaking, but the further process will depend on how finely you tear the paper. The pieces need to be poured with hot water and allowed to stand for several hours. After this, drain the water and use a mixer to grind the paper into a homogeneous mass. If the mixture is too liquid, simply drain it in a colander and squeeze out the excess water. A similar technique can be used no matter what material you use.

The resulting dust must be mixed with glue to form plasticine and allowed to rest. If you do not plan to sculpt immediately after preparation, you can store the mixture in a tight bag in a cool place. For those who do not fully understand the features of preparing the mass, we recommend watching the video lesson.

To make the product especially durable, do not be lazy to make more layers. This is especially true for masks and plates. While working, you need to wear gloves to avoid contamination of your hands, otherwise the glue and paste will dry on the skin and the product will begin to stick to your hands.

Experiment with the materials you use. Gradually you will find what you are more comfortable working with. Be sure to cover the base with oil, otherwise after drying you simply will not be able to remove the workpiece from it. It is especially important not to cut the paper, but to tear it. This is the only way you can break the bond of the fibers, and the mass will be more homogeneous.

Important advice for painting papier-mâché items. If you plan to create a white product, then you need to use white paper, and only for the last two layers. In other cases, you can simply paint the product in the desired color. But the varnish coating will protect the craft from moisture.

Be sure to cover the work surface, otherwise the glue will be difficult to clean off later. Do not rush to apply the next layers without waiting for the previous ones to dry. You also need to paint only after all layers have dried thoroughly.

Step-by-step instructions for making a papier-mâché plate

1. Prepare a plate - it will be our base. It needs to be lubricated with vegetable oil or Vaseline.
2. If you use ready-made mass, then simply apply it to the plate in the required layer, carefully pressing it to the surface.
3. When using strips, simply stick them in a chaotic order on a plate.
4. We smooth the surface with fingers dipped in glue, creating a perfectly smooth surface.
5. Let the workpiece dry for 2-3 days (depending on thickness).
6. Carefully remove the plate from the mold and dry it in this form for another day.
7. Next, we use paints or, as an example, a mixture of gouache and PVA glue. You can also decorate the product with decoupage napkins, craquelure varnish, or use other techniques for decoration.
8. A day after applying the last layer, you need to coat the product with varnish on both sides and dry it.
9. A hole is made with a thin drill (if it was originally planned to hang the plate on the wall).

Step-by-step making of a carnival mask from papier-mâché

1. Let's prepare the form. This can be a ready-made plastic mask. You can also mold it from plasticine. It is especially easy to make masks using jars. To do this, a contour is drawn on the can, and a convexity of the nose and forehead is created from plasticine.
2. After the surface is lubricated, apply the mixture and dry all layers.
3. This work continues until the mask becomes durable. Be sure to follow the instructions for working with layered papier-mâché, otherwise if there is not enough glue between the pieces of paper, the finished product will simply crumble.
4. Then the previous scheme is repeated: the mask is covered with paints, decorated with feathers, beads and other elements, and also varnished.

Making papier-mâché beads

1. You can make beads of absolutely any shape. We need to determine what our product will look like. After this, prepare thin wire, pliers and scissors. In this case, all steps must be performed as carefully as possible, since it depends on appearance of the entire product.
2. Make the required number of elements from the papier-mâché mass: balls, triangles, ovals, and so on.
3. Let them dry a little, but not completely. Using wire, we make loops and carefully insert them into the workpieces. Create the desired length and secure the lock.

In this way, not only beads are made with your own hands, but also bracelets, necklaces and even brooches. Look at the photo and choose the most attractive option for yourself. You can use your imagination.

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How to make papier-mâché step by step