In Rosie's Book: Paper Mache

Why Rosie's Book?

While growing up, I had a dear friend, Renee, that lived next door and with whom I spent much of my childhood. We grew, in different directions, and went on our merry way. Many years later, I ran into her parents and they kindly reminded me of the laughs they still have over my book. “What book?” I wondered with a puzzled look. "I don't remember a book." Hardy laughter accompanied their response. At some time during our childhood, I tried to convince Renee about something that her parents didn’t agree with. I told her that proof of its truth could be found “in my book.” Naturally she went home and tried to convince her parents of the same thing but they weren’t falling for it. She needed an edge and told them emphatically, “It’s in Rosie’s book!” After they caught their breaths from reborn laughter, they let me know how “Rosie’s book” has been cited for many other things throughout the years. They’ve also mentioned that they’d like to see “Rosie’s book” one day. I can’t remember all of the things that I said were in “my book” but I’m sure my dear friend’s parents can recall much more than I ever knew about – LOL!!! So, here it is . . . my version of things you might find In Rosie’s Book . . .

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Paper Mache Pumpkin Treat Holder

Paper Mache is a fun (and wonderfully messy!) way to transform newspaper strips into a dimensional object by pasting them to a mold to take its form. I've used a large leftover party balloon to shape my newspaper strips into a dimensional oval to create my pumpkin.

The recipe for my paste is 1 cup flour, 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon of salt. I wet both sides of each paper strip with my paste before adhering it to my balloon's surface then used a sponge brush to flatten the strip well. After applying four layers of pasted newspaper, I began to clump layered strips on the top to form my pumpkin's short stem.

I've let the newspaper dry over the inflated balloon for four days before using a knife to cut off my lid.

I added folded newspaper strips around the opening of my pumpkin and the rim of the lid to smooth the edges then let it sit to dry another two days. I planned to add paint and certainly don't want any mold to form in my project because of moisture left in my paper mache.

I began to paint layers of Lumiere metallic bronze and Ranger's flat orange acrylic paint to the outside and allowed more drying time. The inside is also painted.

I used black Stickles to add hand-drawn eyes, a nose and mouth. This pic seems to capture some of the amazing sparkle and texture that the Stickles glitter glue adds.

Now this fun, handmade jack-o-lantern holds some of the Halloween goodies that we'll hand out to our trick-or-treaters.

The swirly paper ivy adhered to the base and lid is a digital image cut from my QuicKutz Silhouette electronic cutter. I love that I can resize the ivy image to meet my needs. I've spritzed the paper vine with glimmer mist for shimmer.

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I'm entering this project into the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday "Got Glitter!" (here)
All Sorts "Autumn Colors" (here)
Dream Valley "Halloween" (here)
Crafty Sentiments "Recycle It" (here)
Simon Says Stamp! "Autumn Leaves" (here)
Creative Inspirations "Happy Halloween!" (here)
Divas by Design "Use Some Orange" (here)

I'm so glad that you stopped by to visit!

~ Rose