How to Make a Paper-Mache Collage

Collages make creative challenges for children.

Crafting a paper-mache collage is a creative way to display your passion for visual art. Collages are often composed of different pieces of material to form one specific image. Honor the first letter in your family's surname by making a large block letter collage from shoebox and shipping box cardboard pieces. The two types of cardboard give the collage depth, and coating the final surface of all paper-mache pieces with paper towel is ideal for acrylic paint.

Things You'll Need

• 24-inch-by-24-inch foam poster board, 1/4-inch thick
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Shoebox cardboard pieces
• Shipping box cardboad pieces
• 5 cups water
• 1 cup flour
• Pot
• Medium size bowl
• Newspaper
• Paper towels
• Acrylic paints
• Paintbrushes
• White glue

Instructions

1. Lay out a single piece of foam poster board. Draw a large, block letter outline of the first letter in your last name onto the poster board with a pencil.

2. Cut out multiple pieces of shoebox and shipping box cardboard to various sizes and shapes. All shapes should ultimately fit within the confines of the letter outline. Make enough pieces to overlap one another at all points in the collage.

3. Boil 5 cups water and 1 cup flour in a pot for three minutes to make a paper-mache mix. Allow the mix to cool for five minutes and dump it into a medium size bowl.

4. Rip the newspaper into 1-inch-by-3-inch strips. Submerge a strip into the mix. Press the strip onto one piece of cardboard. Continue until the surfaces of all cardboard pieces are covered in newspaper.

5. Rip the paper towels into 1-inch-by-3-inch strips. Submerge a strip into the mix. Press the strip onto one piece of cardboard. Continue until the surfaces of all cardboard pieces are covered in paper towel. Allow three hours for the pieces to dry.

6. Coat all cardboard pieces in acrylic paint. Allow an additional two hours for the pieces to dry.

7. Bond the pieces onto the poster board letter with white glue. Make and bond additional paper-mache pieces to the collage to give the letter a substantial three-dimensional look.

References

• DLTK Kids: How to Paper Mache