How to Make Corn Husks Into Bowls

Dry fresh corn husks for your craft.

Corn husk bowl crafts are creative ways to express your interest in art and kitchenware. Making a corn husk bowl is an ideal weekend activity for children, and may be displayed for presentational purposes or used to store non-edible objects. The trick to creating a bowl using corn husks is to allow them to dry in direct sunlight for 14 days. The sun bleaches the husk silk and prevents mold growth.

Things You'll Need

• Bowl (for shaping)
• Dried corn husks
• Needle
• Thread
• Scotch tape
• Scissors
• 5 cups water
• 1 cup flour
• 1-by-3-inch newspaper strips
• 1-by-3-inch white paper towel strips
• Cardboard
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes

Instructions

1. Place a bowl upside down on a flat surface.

2. Tie a 24-inch long piece of thread to a needle. Tie a triple knot in the free-hanging end of the thread. Puncture one end of a corn husk with the needle. Pull the thread through until the knot is flush with the husk.

3. Place a second husk side-by-side with the first husk. Thread the ends of two husks together. Continue until you have five husk ends threaded together. The five sewn husk ends help you begin building your bowl.

4. Drape the five sewn husks on top of the upside down bowl. Tape one husk edge to the bowl, to hold the husks in place. Adjust the husks so the sewn ends are flush with the center of the bowl. Repeat the sewing process until you complete one full circle of husks around the bowl. Remove the tape.

5. Move 1 inch down the husk -- from the center of the bowl -- and sew around the body of the husks. Continue moving down 1 inch and sewing. The sewing strongly joins the pieces together.

6. Add more husks and continue sewing as you did in earlier steps, until the entire bowl is covered with sewn husks.

7. Carefully pull the husk bowl off the real bowl. Flip the real bowl right-side up. Place the husk bowl into the real bowl. Trim off excess husk until the rim of the husk bowl are flush with the rim of the real bowl.

8. Pour water and flour into a pot to make a paper mache mix. Boil the mix for 3 minutes. Allow the mix to cool for 5 minutes. Dump the mix into a medium-sized bowl -- not the corn husk bowl.

9. Soak a newspaper strip into the mix. Firmly press the wet strip onto the inside of the husk bowl. Continue until the entire inside of the bowl is covered in one layer of newspaper. Repeat this step with white paper towel strips. The paper mache helps the corn husk bowl hold its shape and prevents leakages in the bowl. Remove the corn husk bowl from the real bowl and set it onto a piece of cardboard to dry for four hours.

10. Coat the inside of the corn husk bowl with acrylic paint. Allow two hours for the bowl to dry before using or displaying.

References

• DLTK Kids: How to Paper Mache
• Scared Spiral; Drying Corn Husks; Eliza Fegley; 2002