Papier Mache - Tutorials - A dramatic flower from found materials and papier mâché techniques

Paste the surface of the flower and lay a strip of paper. Press it down with your finger and then brush it firmly down. Be careful not to drag the paper as you brush.

: Laying the paper strips

Make sure the inner layer goes right to the bottom. Tear off the protruding piece.

: Laying paper right down to the end

: Brushing down edges

: Pressing down gently with finger

Reinforce the edges with thinner strips. It should look like this.

: Reinforcing the edges

: Covering all the petals

: Gently pressing down the strips

: Petals fully covered

: Finished petals

Tear some strips of yellow paper. Now for the sophisticated bit! On a plastic or glass surface, lay a good dose of paste, slightly larger than half the length of the paper you will be using.

: Pasting a hard surface

Lay the paper strip on the wet surface. Press with your hands over the moist half of the strip and then brush a little more paste over the surface. Fold the dry half of the strip over the first and press it firmly with your hands. Brush a little more paste over the top surface.

: Laying the yellow paper

: Folding the dry half of the strip over the moist half

: Pressing firmly with the hands

: Brushing a little more paste over surface

Now, using a plastic knife with the serrations cut off (or a modeling tool) ease the tip under the laminate and lift off a strip. This improves with practice.

: Lifting a strip of the laminate

Place the strips on the pistil and smooth down. Scrape smaller pieces from your paper and use these to fill the angle between the dowel and the pistil.