New Year's toys made of papier-mâché

Technique papier mache perfect for making New Year's toys. With minimal material costs you can get lightweight and quite durable crafts absolutely any shape. On the eve of the coming New Year, we suggest making with children the Snow Maiden and the Fire Monkey using the papier-mâché technique using the layering method - a symbol of the coming 2016.

To work you will need:
• Any paper (from toilet paper and newspaper to notebook and album sheets);
• Paste (wallpaper glue or PVA);
• Glue brush;
• Paint brushes;
• Modeling board or oilcloth;
• Vegetable oil;
• Scissors for labor;
• Stationery knife;
• Braid;
• Varnish.

Progress
1. To perform work using this technology, a form is required. Since the Snow Maiden and the Monkey were planned to be made in the form of painted nesting dolls, a bottle of liquid soap was taken as the basis. The bottle made an excellent “body”, but the head had to be molded from plasticine.


2. We made the paste. The proportions are visible in the photo: a tablespoon of sifted flour per glass of water.
Tip: paste is a perishable product, so you need to store it in the refrigerator between jobs.
3. Grease the finished form with vegetable oil (or Vaseline) so that the paper does not stick to it.


Otherwise, at the end of the work, it will be very difficult to remove the papier-mâché blank from the mold.
4. Lay three layers of paper soaked in glue on top of the mold. The layers were dried. Several layers were applied again. Dried again. The procedure was performed several times. The more layers of paper, the tougher the finished craft will be. By the way, children like to stack layers of paper - the activity is somewhat comparable to putting together puzzles.
5. We cut the paper blank in half, being careful not to cut through the shape, and removed it from the base.





6. We prepared a braid with which the toy will be attached to the Christmas tree. To do this, fold 20–25 cm of ribbon, cord or braid in half and tie the ends with a strong knot.
7. We connected the halves by inserting a loop of braid into the upper part of the toy blank, while the loop itself should remain outside, and the knot should remain inside the craft.


We pasted the toy in one layer of paper with glue.
8. We made a paper bottom for the toy. This step is a departure from the traditional method of making papier-mâché, and it was taken due to the fact that the toy was originally planned to be made without a bottom.



9. Apply several more layers of paper with glue (it is recommended to make the top layer from clean white paper). Dried it out.

Advice: if you want to achieve the most even surface possible, sand the dried papier-mâché workpiece with sandpaper, removing all creases and irregularities. To obtain a smooth surface, you can also use putty followed by sanding.
10. The papier-mâché blank was primed.
11. Apply your favorite design or painting to the figure.







Tip: to decorate such products, use the technique decoupage – looks very beautiful, impressive.


12. The finished painted figurine was varnished. This will preserve the beauty of the craft for many years.