- 1). Choose a bowl for your mold, and spread a thin, even coat of petroleum jelly on the inside of it. This will prevent the paper from adhering to the inside of the bowl.
- 2). Tear newspaper into strips 2 to 3 inches wide. Each strip should be long enough to cover the interior of the bowl from rim to rim and extend about 2 inches past the rim at each end.
- 3). Make papier-mach¨¦ paste (see 'eHow to Make Papier-Mach¨¦ Paste').
- 4). Coat one newspaper strip at a time with the paste: Dip it into the bowl of paste and then run the strip through your fingers to ensure an even coating and get rid of excess paste.
- 5). Cover the interior of the bowl with the strips, placing each strip in the bowl as soon as it's dipped. Start at the center of the bowl and work outward, placing the strips all the way across the bowl; each strip should overlap the previous strip by about 1 inch.
- 6). Repeat the previous step six or seven times, making crisscrossed layers: After you lay down one layer, turn the bowl 90 degrees and lay down another layer. The number of layers you need depends on how large a bowl you're making: A larger bowl requires more layers. Allow the paper to dry at room temperature for 36 to 48 hours.
- 7). Remove the paper bowl from the mold; use a butter knife to gently loosen it from the mold, if necessary. Place it upside down to continue drying on a baking rack, and let it dry at room temperature for another 12 hours or so.
- 8). Use scissors to trim the bowl's rim evenly to the desired width.
- 9). Lightly sand the interior and exterior of the bowl.
- 10
Paint the bowl with two coats of a solid-color tempera or other water-based paint - white makes a good primer. When that's dry, paint your designs on the bowl and lightly apply a protective varnish, if desired.
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