Great crafts can be made at home from a material called papier-mâché. All its components are easily accessible, beautiful products are obtained even by those who are not particularly good at sculpting.
Papier-mâché in art and handicrafts is used as a material for making sculptures, puppets, fruit bowls, dolls and other objects. You can make a variety of crafts for the interior. The papier-mâché surface can be easily painted in the desired color, it can also be decorated.
How to make papier-mâché products
To make a lot of papier-mâché, you will need unnecessary newspapers or other paper, glue, water. Mix the glue with water in a 2/1 ratio. Newspapers should be cut into strips two centimeters wide or torn into small pieces. Combine newspapers and glue solution, mix until smooth with a spoon or bristle brush.
If you use stationery glue to make the material, keep in mind that difficulties may await you when dyeing the molded product. The paint may refuse to stick to the surface. It is best to prime the product with artistic whitewash or acrylic primer before painting, and then cover it with paint.
Some products look better with a smooth surface. When pasting a form with strips of paper, it is not always possible to achieve perfect smoothness. But the procedure for leveling the surface is not as complicated as it might seem - you just need to be patient with it.
How to get a smooth papier-mâché product surface
First, you need to align the most noticeable pits by gluing small pieces of paper there. Do this until the surface looks more or less even. The product must be dried, after which the surface is treated with fine-grained sandpaper. Perform processing in circular light movements, pressing should be as light as possible. Wipe up paper fibers periodically with a rag. Thickly coat the treated surface with glue and dry well to make the top layer stronger. This procedure can be repeated several times to increase the strength of the top layer. After that, you can start painting, inlaying or decorating the surface in another way.
For slight roughness, cover the surface with several coats of PVA glue or use an aerosol varnish for cars.
If you want to paint the product, after the painting procedure is over, it is better to cover the surface with varnish - in two or three layers. The varnish is suitable for both nitro and furniture, make sure that the paint does not "float". The product processed in this way will be smooth and shiny.
