Easy DIY Paper Mache Bowl | Papier Mache Decor
I have been eyeing up all the pretty white, pottery esq type bowls on Pinterest and Instagram lately. So when I learned these were paper mâché bowls! I was intrigued. Could I make only myself?
I remember my mom making paper mâché when we were kids and my memories of it were that it was a disaster hah. So I was skeptical but I watched a ton of tutorials and figured I would give it a shot.
One thing I modified was instead of using newspaper or regular paper like all the tutorial I watched I used toilet paper instead.
This dramatically cuts down on the time spent waiting for your newspaper to break down into a clay/paste after being soaked in water. And I also prefer the end result as I didn’t paint mine like a lot of people needed to because of the black ink bleeding into the paper.
And I am sure we all have a little extra toilet paper lying around … am I right?!
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Paper Mache Bowl Video Tutorial:
Easy Paper Mache Bowl Tutorial:
These bowls are really simple to make with my secret ingredient toilet paper! instead of your traditional newspaper or regular printer paper, toilet paper breaks down much much fast. We are talking min. instead of hours before you can even start the assembly of your paper Mache bowl.
These bowls make beautiful table top decor with either a potted plant inside them or left empty. Paper Mache bowls also work great as a fruit bowl in your kitchen or decor on your kitchen shelves.
They have a beautiful primitive, raw look to them thats really instil right now. Handmade paper Mache bowls can cost upwards of $120.00 a bowl on Etsy so they are worth making one yourself, especially because they really are so easy and use ingredients you will most likely have lying around your home!
Materials needed:
You will need:
A bowl for your mold, and a smaller bowl if you plan to make a stand for your bowl to sit on like my original project. Attach the small bowl on the bottom of your other bowl with painters tape.
If you do not use a separate bowl and just glob a bunch of paper mâché on the bottom of your original bowl it will most likely mold because it will not dry properly.
- 2 mixing bowls
- 1/2 cup white glue
- 3 tbsp salt
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1 roll of toilet paper
- water
- Saran Wrap
Steps for Making a Paper Mache Bowl
First unravel your toilet paper and place it in a large bowl. If your bowl isn’t large enough to fit the whole roll in you can go this step multiple times. I would use the entire roll of toilet paper just to make sure you have enough to make a decent size bowl.
Step 1:
Take you toilet paper and cover it with really really hot water. Let it sit for 5-10min. Your toilet paper should be nice and sift and easily torn.
Many tutorials require you to shred newspaper or regular white paper. Both of these options will work but it will require a lot more time for the paper to break down into fibrous pieces in the water. Thats the beauty of using toilet paper instead.
If you use toilet paper instead of newspaper to make your paper Mache bowl you are basically skipping most of the soaking time because the toilet paper is already broken down, thin paper.
Step2:
Once your toilet paper has soaked and is very soft remove it from the hot water ringing out the majority of the excess water. If you have cheese cloth you could place your toilet paper in the cheese cloth and ring it out.
I didn’t have any so I just used my hands and that worked just fine. You don’t want every last drop of water squeezed out, but you also don’t want an excess of water left in the toilet paper or it will take a really really long time for your bowl to dry out.
Now its time to shred your toilet paper. You can use a blender or just tear it up and mush it with your hands.
Step3:
Once your paper is torn up and it resembles a pulp rather than piece of toilet paper add in the res of your ingredients and smush it together to make a thick paste.
Step 4:
Cover your bowl that you are using as a mold with Saran Wrap. Start by pressing your mixture onto the bowl in a somewhat thin layer. You don’t want it to be so thin that you can see holes throughout your bowl but too thick and it will not dry properly. Mine was approx. 1/4″ thick.
If you are going to make a stand for the bottom of your bowl you will want to tape a smaller bowl to the bottom of your original bowl and cover with wrap before applying the toilet paper mixture.
If you make a solid lump of paper Mache as the stand it will not dry properly and could mold over time.
Step 5:
Once your bowl is well covered its time to let it dry. You can let it air dry over a couple days. It could take anywhere form 3-7days to properly dry OR you could take advantage of your oven and cut that drying time way down.
I set my oven to approx. 175 degrees and let it slowly dry in there all day long whenever I wasn’t using the oven for other things. This sped up the drying time drastically and I think it only took 2 days to get it good and dry.
Lastly you will need to wiggle the bowl off your bowl mold. Mine was tricky at first so I set it outside hoping the cold air (this was done in the dead of winter) would help and once it was really really cold I was able to wiggle it out of the mold.
Check out our other easy DIY projects:
Check out our handmade home decor from our shop Revival Goods
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