DIY Paper Mache craft you would love to make

Blog DIY name board DIY paper mache showcase

Second in our series of WOODOOZ SHOWCASE, we bring to you a craft project by Subbu Padmanabhan. We once did two tribal face masks and then a personalized name board using paper mache. Here’s a paper mache craft idea that combines the faces and the name plate into one beautiful welcome board for the entrance.

Read more to know what Subbu has to say about her project, in her own words.

"I had a spare wooden plank and lots of time during my son’s summer vacation and wanted to use them resourcefully. One of the many things I made was this name board for my home in Bangalore.

I wanted to make a home, faces to represent the occupants of the home and then our names. Making the paper mache paste is easy and you can find a detailed step by step description of how Preethi made the paper mache paste here in Woodooz. One additional thing I did was add chalk paste putty when I ran short of flour."

Paper Mache faces

"The grey color is because of the water in the mix. Once the figures are made, they need to be allowed to dry for a minimum of 24 hours before you can do anything with it. Once dried, it takes a lighter color with all the water drained off. I made the letters separately and then set it on the plank."

Arranged to be glued

"Once I was happy with the arrangement, I set out to color the faces and the letters. I used acrylic colors to give the entire project some life."

Acrylic colors for painting

"You can use acrylic primer as a base coat as it also allows for hiding the pores in the figures."

Paper mache faces painted

"Once the coloring was done, I used fevicol to stick everything onto the 6mm plywood plank. While you can use wood paint to prime and paint the wood I used acrylic color to give it uniform texture as the faces. I used gold predominantly to go well with the contrasting brown color of the backdrop. After giving the glue time to dry up, the plank was up on my entrance wall."

DIY Paper Mache Craft

"How do you like it?  Do you think something is amiss ? Let me know your thoughts. Leave a comment."

By the way, her friends in the apartment loved the name plate so much that one of them wanted to learn how it was made and another wanted to custom make a plate similar to this one. Isn’t that wonderful ?

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About the Artist

Subbu Padmanabhan is a mom to a 3 something year old boy, and works as faculty in a premier play school. She likes to indulge in mini crafts projects, for the school and her home, during her spare time. The wall art that you see in the backdrop of this bedside lamp is her handiwork too. She lives in Bangalore.

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You may also be interested in

• An ancient art in a recently bought pot
• Dancing Ganesha - A Madhubani on handmade paper
• A wine bottle recycle project using Madhubani and Mod Podge

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Linking in : Colours Dekor
- Somu

Paper Mache Name Board

Blog DIY name board DIY paper mache

Paper mache traditionally has had many functional uses. It was used in winnow baskets (Muram in tamil) for giving the cane frame a stronger and smoother finish. I also hear my grand mother used to make paper mache baskets for storing rice. For quite sometime now, it is an extensive medium for various crafts. With merely used paper as the raw material, you can make trays, pen / magazine holders, lamp shades, earrings, beverage coasters, toys, decorative items and much more if you unleash your imagination.

Paper Mache DIY

The craft is not limited to only the smaller objects. We used to make 30 feet structures in our arts and decoration club in college.  While making the paper mache mix warrants a separate, detailed post by itself, you can find a brief overview of  how to make the paper mache mix from an earlier post of ours.

Paper Mache Name Board

For this name board, the shape of the house was first made and then the letters, which were stuck to the backdrop. Paper and maida being the only base, you would be surprised at the strength the whole mix attains after drying, which takes about 2 days. You can use putty (Chalk powder) for a smoother finish, paint with your desired colours / design and give a coat of modpodge for protection. On the whole, a very lovely craft.

~ Preethi

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P.S. Linking it : Romantic Home, Kreative Korner, @thepicketfence, Coloursdekor

- Somu