Turn a sketch into a fun paper mache ornament for your home

Culture Days is a national celebration of arts and culture with over 1,800 free, immersive, arts and culture events taking place across Canada (and virtually!) from September 24 to October 24, 2021. As part of this celebration, watch the video above to learn how to make your own paper mache with artist Lily Taylor. Feel free to share your paper mache online with the hashtag #CBCArtsMakes and find more Culture Days events here.

Hi everyone! My name is Lily Taylor and I'm an artist living and working in St. John's, Newfoundland. I've been working with paper mache for the last couple years, and today I'm going to show you how to turn a 2-D sketch into a 3-D ornament to decorate your table with at work or at home.

Age range: 13+ (parental supervision may be required while using exacto knife)

Time commitment: Roughly 2 hrs or more depending on drying times

Materials: 

• newspaper 
• cardboard / foam core board 
• glue / flour* for paper mache mix 
• hot glue 
• water 
• Mod Podge / sealer 
• paint 

Tools:

• hair dryer / heat gun (optional)
• scissors 
• exacto knife 
• paintbrush 
• tape 
• pencils and paper 

Instructions:

Step 1

First, sketch out the character you want to build. 

Step 2

Once you have a sketch, try to simplify the figure into simple shapes (boxes, cylinders, spheres, etc.) 

Step 3

Find some cardboard, newspaper or foam core to cut out your shapes. 

Step 4

If using a "soft build" technique: use newspaper to ball up and form your shapes with tape. This technique is useful for elements that you want to appear soft or bendy in form. 

Step 5

Using an exacto knife or scissors, either score and fold or cut and then piece together your shapes with tape or hot glue for your character.

Step 6

Now we will prepare the paper mache mix. There are two methods:

a. Mix equal parts warm water with white glue until it forms a runny paste.

b. Mix one part flour to two and a half parts boiling water with a pinch of salt. (This measurement varies depending on heat of the water and flour type but you want a thick-but-runny paste.)

Step 7

Cut strips of newspaper to comfortably wrap around your subject. Either dunk newspaper strips in bowl with made paste or place strips on your character and use a paint brush to evenly coat them 

Step 8

Once the whole character is covered with your paper mache, wait for it to dry! 

(Optionally you can use a hair dryer or heat gun to speed up the drying time.)

Step 9

Now we use acrylic paints to paint our character and then set it aside again to dry.

Step 10

After the character is completely dry, we can seal it with a sealer spray or Mod Podge.

Ta-dah! You now have successfully transformed your character from a 2D sketch to a 3D ornament! 

If you try this activity at home, we'd love to see it! Share your work with us on social by tagging @CBCArts, @lilyetayl and #CBCArtsMakes.