Zen and the Art of Paper Mache

I love paper mache--the warm goey paste, the satisfying tear of newspaper and the calming, repetitive action of placing strips to create new from old.
My youngest son has just recently joined me as I yet again add a paper mache component to the birthday party decor. He now appreciates the quiet I think, which is a first for this otherwise very "actionful" guy. I just enjoy his company doing something we can share together.

I didn't always feel so kindly about paper mache. I had a long-term occasional teaching position for a grade 5 class once. I was their 5th teacher that year, and I will not elaborate much more on that other than to say that doing uncooked flour and water paper mache with them during near the end of the year did not work out well! Most of them went mouldy over the weekend. After that, I swore off of paper mache until my own kids were young.

I priced out train pinatas for my son's 3rd birthday party and decided we'd try it out again. This time I tried using a cooked cornstarch paste. I just used the gluey paste my grandmother and I used to make for crafts, but added less cornstarch and more water. I cut out a frame for it from cardboard boxes (cut out most of the panels leaving only the edges and corners behind) and covered the whole thing. It worked out wonderfully well, but I did learn that 4 layers of paper mache creates a strong material reminiscent of the likes of kevlar (you know, the stuff they use for bullet-proof vests and lightweight canoes!). Next time round we made two layers, then cut a couple of round holes in it and just did a single layer over the holes. This worked better, although it was still quite challenging!

Since then we have made a few batches of dragon's eggs, a dragon, a troll mask, some paper mache jar vases, paper mache pumpkins and several other things I'm sure I'm forgetting!

This year it's another batch of dragon's eggs. Bring on the cornstarch!

For the basic paste, see here (below the recipe are instructions for dragon's eggs, and making creatures too)
For paper mache jar vases, see here