Thread: Paper mache project!

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So I am new to the paper mache scene but I am excited and somewhat scared to start on it because I am so new.

I am going to go with a flour, warm water, elmers glue, and salt mixture till its about a pancake mix or thinner than that.

I have 10 pounds of flour, a bottle of elmers glue and then salt and water to start out with.

Any tips, concerns, pointers??

So you know of the project. It is going to be on a yoga exercise ball. You know, the ones which you can bounce on in a way and can be hard to balance on. Well I plan on paper maching that and then when it drys with like 3 of 4 layers probably I want to pop the ball and have the sphere structure still in tact to work with and then I can pull out the ball and maybe use it for some other project for covering.

Does that sound plausible?

I am antsy to start but am afraid it might be a waist of money if it didn't work out... so wish me luck!

I would not use an exercise ball. I could buy one of those round balloons that have a rubber band and you punch it while holding the rubber band. You can blow those up to the size of the exercise ball and they are much cheaper. I bet big lots has them for a couple bucks at the most.

I would avoid using flour if you want to keep it for a while. I would imagine that it attracks bugs. I am hardly and expert, but when I to papermache, I use strips of torn coffee filters (much stronger than newspaper) and just a bottle of Modge Podge to bind the strips. A large bottle of MP might be six to eight dollars, so maybe only use it for one or two coats if you are doing something that big and are trying to keep costs down. As always, look for 40-50% off coupons for Michaels or JoAnns to buy this.

I never thought of those round balloon balls, though I remember playing with them as a kid. I have also had them pop on me because I punched it to hard... I do not know if that type of balloon ball would be able to take the weight of layers of paper mache. That is one reason I was using an exercise ball. It is one of the smaller ones and it would be able to support the weight if I wanted to do a lot of layers on it. I do plan on sealing the project with a sealant to prevent molding/water damage to it. Thanks for the idea, I will go to big lots or the dollar store and poke around to see if I can find anything else. The exercise ball was $9 by the way, which is relatively cheap for an exercise ball. I was just scared that even if all the layers dried, if I popped it, that the whole thing might collapse. Do you think I should duck tape it first and THEN mache the project or would that just make it harder in the end? Looking to hear from others also.

Stolloween's recipe is (in his own words):
My paste recipe is six cups of flour + one cup of liquid starch + one cup of white glue. Using a mixer blend these ingredient with enough warm tap water until you have the consistency of a very thin pancake batter.
He's certainly a master of paper mache, but he also says many recipes work well. If you haven't visited his website, its http://www.stolloween.com/?page_id=209

Personally, I used just glue and water for my scarecrow's pumpkin head, avoiding flour for the same reason Hallowtheme said. I first used a thin layer of plaster cloth over a beach ball, deflated the beach ball, then built up paper mache over that for better feature detailing at a lower cost than the plaster cloth (which is very lightweight and strong). Probably overkill, but it worked. But get as close to your final shape with the balloon and any features you need to add to it will save you time later on. I'd probably avoid the duct tape as it may stick to the paper mache. Note that the paper mache can be slow to dry between layers. Letting this project set outside in our Texas summer heat sped up the drying a bit. A gratifying but messy project (or maybe that's just me )

Here's another thread that discusses PM recipes
Best paper mache recipe.

I have for sure visited his site and analyzed everything. He uses flour and he sure is a master so that must say SOMETHING for his madness. :]

I figured since I probably have a good at least 15 hours before I decide if I wanted to do the exercise ball or not I would ask peoples opinions and what they used for theirs.

I was also thinking just the glue and water but I am sure that it is harder to get onto the paper in a thin paste type of thing instead of using the flour, glue and water which might coat them easier at least than just water and glue. I just created my rib cage that I want. I am deciding if I want it bigger or not. Here is a picture of it, which I also intend to paper mache also and might do first, kinda as a test project.

Ive done the ball thing before amd wish i had thought it out better...like placing the hole to deflate ball where i can get it without popping it.also to cover the project in saran wrap so after 2 days off drying it was still to wet and collapsed the sides.Good luck on the project.

Thank you, that is the type of information I was looking for. And that also was my main concern.

My suggestion from experience on the punch balloon, if you ever go that route, is to do 1 or 2 layers of the mache of your choosing then pop it & build up from there.

The balloon will deflate just enough after a couple of days for the paper mache to cave in. If you've only done 1 or 2 layers, you can reinflate it if necessary to push out the sunken areas, then pop it. Or you can pop it then make a hole large enough to pop out any caved in areas & patch the hole.

If you do 2 layers & it deflates you can easily put more air in it, after more layers that's just not possible & it's a pain & extra time & effort to fix the sunken areas. When you pop the balloon it will stick to the insides of the mache & may still cave a teeny bit, but nothing like it will after it sits for 3 or 4 days while the balloon deflates naturally. And by then you've got the airhole end of the balloon covered in mache goo & it's just not worth the taste to reinflate it.

I have the start of Jack Skellington head going & that's what I did, 3-4 layers, the thing deflated & caved on me & then I had to fill in the caved areas & it was a pain & an unexpected though minor hassle.

Unless you wanna use helium to inflate it, but then that poses a whole 'nother set of problems!

If you do use an exercise ball, make sure, as someone else mentioned, you put the airhole where you can get to it, & wrap it in foil or plastic wrap so you can use the ball again.

I am not debating on using the ball or going out to find one of those rubber punch balloons. If I use the exercise ball though I will definitely cover it with foil or saran wrap first. I was afraid it might cave in. I am assuming it might take a while for the first layer to dry and then I could put on a second layer when its dried and let that one dry, then deflate it when its fully dried and hope no cave in's?? Scary.

I made a pumpkin head using glue, water and newspaper. The form was a large beach ball and 7-8 layers of mache. I painted it with exterior paint inside and out and sealed with spar varnish. It lasted 3 seasons, but in it's defence it went thru 71 mph wind & rain this year before ripping out the back where it was attached to the body. Definately cover your ball first. I wrapped a plastic grocery bag around the ball and sprayed with a touch of cooking spray.

I didn't have any problems with caving, but I left the ball in until I had 4 layers on. Plus I made sure the previous coat was good and dry before applying another layer. Stolloween also suggests using temporary braces during drying to help prevent any caving, especially if you will be using paper clay to build up any areas.

I plan on redoing him this year with more detail But this time I am going with Stolloween's recipe. I guess it is stronger. Also, I am going to duct tape in a strip of mechanics cloth were he will be attached. Take that wind!!!