diy - tiny paper mache bowls

oh hey there. it's been awhile. we've been tied up with weddings, baby showers, the miserable FLU and some serious netflix & hulu marathons.


i've been on the hunt for some small bowls to help organize my jewelry drawer and when the usual places weren't hitting the spot (anthro! why are you so expensive?) i figured i could take a stab at some paper mache bowls with materials that i already have in my house.

here's what you'll need:

1. a balloon for each bowl
2. a jar to suspend the balloon
3. newspaper
4. flour + water for paper mache paste. refined flower works best.
5. glue for base
6. thick twine for a coil base
7. paint/stickers/tape/glitter for decoration.. whatever your heart desires.
8. mod podge to seal

here's some quick & dirty directions....

blow up the balloon to the desired size and start covering with strips of newspaper dipped in flour paste ( i use about 3 parts water, 1 part flour). you'll want to do several layers... it's hard to keep track, but at least 7 will do. be sure to make the bowl height taller than your final product, you'll trim the edges down later. let dry overnight.

after it's dried, i glue a base out of some twine i had laying around. i used extra glue to make the twine harden.

i trimmed one of bowls with a scallop edge...

 and i cut the other asymmetrical. painted blue with very wobbly gold stripes! [quick tip: when painting layers on the dry bowls, you may have to do this over a few days. every time i painted them with a blue layer the newspaper becomes soft and starts to warp a bit.]

and the scalloped one has big polka dots inside of them -- dotted with the eraser of a pencil. the scallops were great for keeping my earrings in place (i spy merah earrings!).

here they are together... they will be nice & happy in my drawer.