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I have always wanted to make a paper mache craft!

Last week I was looking at the large pile of egg cartons I seem to be saving for who knows what and decided to actually use them.

My very enthusiastic 3 year old and I set off to make some paper mache bowls. I was also pleased at the extra details it was promising to add in its raw form, very earthy look. You can even make this up ahead of time and store it, sealed tightly, in the refrigerator for a several days.

Materials Needed:

• Cardboard Egg Cartons
• Warm Water
• Salt
• Glue

Instructions:
Tear the egg cartons into tiny pieces and put them in a large bowl, then add hot tap water to completely cover them. Soak for several hours.

After a good soaking, knead your egg carton pieces and water into a mixture that resembles oatmeal. If the mixture seems too dry, add a little more hot tap water and let it set for a little while longer. If it seams too wet, pour or squeeze out some of the water. Knead it until it is fairly smooth, with as few lumps a possible.

If you would like a colored paper mache craft add some food coloring until desired color is reached, let it sit for 2 hours for color to sink in.

Once you are happy with how smooth your mixture is, add a couple teaspoons of salt to help discourage mold. Knead it again to mix all the salt in. Squeeze out any excess water. Now add a few tablespoons of glue and mix well again. Your pulp should now be ready to use.

We then took some cling wrap to cover our molds for our bowls. My little helper was very eager to help and couldn’t wait. (I also took off shirt for this craft, mess mess mess as my toddler likes to say)

Once the bowl molds were covered for our paper mache craft, we put them upside down on a larger plate so that I would move them around, stalking the sun to get them dried later that day.

Starting at the top I packed the mulch and pressed out extra water as I went, until the entire bowl was covered.
My 3 year old was fascinated by this craft and really enjoyed himself. He chatted non stop about sticking it to the bowl and it being wet and blue.

Both paper mache bowl crafts were placed in the sun for the afternoon. I then, of course, forgot about them the next day so they didn’t get any sun. On the 3rd day we had a very warm day and with some morning sun I was able to separate the paper mache bowl from the mold and remove the cling wrap to allow the inside to dry as well.

Unfortunately my toddlers bowl didn’t make it. I think it was because it was not pressed as the mulch went onto the mold to get the extra water out.

The bowl came out very nice in a light blue. We put it to use in our craft we had made the previous day.

The Paper Mache Bowl we crafted was perfect as a nest for our Salt Dough Easter Eggs!