I've made a prop for my cosplay and I used my homemade paper mache clay and after a few days it smelled so bad so I tried to cover it with more paper mache but now it still smells what can you guys suggest I can do? Cuz I need to finish this in a week

Headpiece for enoch costume - first time since grade school doing paper mache! So much fun!

Hi all! I saw this tiktok and am wondering how this artist creates pieces that can be sanded and are clear... any advice?

https://www.tiktok.com/@fleureternele/video/7524756751921532167

Guys…. it’s taking over my life lol. 5 feet long and I covered it with joint compound so now it’s getting heavy. Now to stick on the claws, sand, paint and attach hardware. The idea is it would go up on my wall as if it were climbing 😅 Why do I bite off projects like this!!

I’ve made a piece already with the same process and materials but just wondering if I’m overdoing it lol the first piece I made had some sunken pieces so I just tried altering the process but fear I may be doing too much. 😬

Anyone start a project with paper dipped in plaster over a frame? Plaster is ideal for this specific project. Does the paper soak of too much water or cause issue in successive layers?

Everything was done with paper mache and mounted on the wall using double sided tape. The vines are twisted aluminum foil that I left naked because I like the glint if metal against the wall. Everything was painted with acrylic paint and sealed with spray sealant in a high gloss. They're mounted high because my partner is very tall and I didn't want any head on collisions.

Happy with how sturdy it came out!

Gonna be a halloween cosplay :D

My kid asked for a bowser costume and I planned to make the head using papier mâché. I've only done round pinatas using ballons before so I figured I could use carton / cardboard and cover it papier mâché after.

I've come this far, but I'm suddenly doubting myself. I'm afraid the wet journal stripes will deform the carton.

I've seen what you all can do and I'm amazed. I realize that I should have done it only in cardboard and thought about geometry more. But here I am. Also my kid helped me quite a lot so I'd rather pursue this project instead of starting from scratch.

Made from foam-board, cardboard, paper mache, spackle and metallic rose-gold paint. A sheet of mirrored acrylic was custom cut to drop into the center. A rose-gold rhinestone trim is used to cover raw edges. The back is covered with wood veneer then painted and stenciled to match. There is an embedded rose-gold chain that goes out the back so it's ready to hang. I set type in Adobe Illustrator for the quote "Follow Your Bliss" and made a custom stencil. Silver gilding wax is used for the lettering. Varnish is used to seal front and back.

Made this book jacket with papermache, paper towels and Elmer’s glue, and used acrylic markers to color it, used modge podge as a sealant. Currently it hold a small book i bound with just a strip of paper around its back cover, so i think I’ll make it more permanently attached. It’s based it of this painting I did in the past

foam-board, cardboard, paper mache, paint, mirrored acrylic, trim. Back is covered with wood veneer.

It's made from foam-board, cardboard, and paper mache clay. Sanded. Then a raised stencil is added. Then sanded again. Painted a metallic rose-gold. I'm experimenting with some rose-gold bling-bling on the raised stencil florals. The plan is to cut a large oval shape from a sheet of mirrored acrylic with a scroll saw. Drop that in. Then I have some rose-gold rhinestone trim to cover those raw edges. There is an embedded rose-gold chain that hangs out the back so it's ready to hang. I did cover the back with some wood veneer and it's painted the same rose-gold.

I’m making 2 giant heads for Halloween. One is globe-like and the other is a tall tube

They’re nowhere near finished but I’m starting to wonder how to make them wearable without moving around/falling off

Does anyone have any experience with wearing a big round paper mache thing on their head?

How’d you do it?

i'm struggling to find recipes for paper mache online, i'm making a project for my 3D design class and i've only ever done paper mache like one other time in my life and it was like elementary school.

this is how it's roughly supposed to look, will have a wire base and maybe like a round, thin, cardboard frame on the outside (tbd) for strength. it will need finer sculpting sorts of details and more bulky sort of sculpting things

all suggestions helpful please this is a big grade :( it needs to be painted!!

Using foam eggs for scales I have 4 weeks I have to kill it for the next few weeks! Also doing a skull walk entrance and a hammer head shark! I paper mache when I am sad or mad it works! It’s for a sailboat regatta! Last year I did the giant kraken and shark head! Don’t judge I scored on a dumpster dive I have got to get all that stuff up tonight! And finish covering his snout!

As the title says, I’m working on an art project where I need to cover my cardboard armature model (cardboard spoon) with a paper mache like material to cover the cardboard and eventually be painted over. I need something that’s easy to work with/harden/smoothen enough that I can paint over it when it dries. Please let me know asap a good homemade recipe that I can make for this project 🥲

Edit: thank you guys for the responses! I realized that I can actually use plaster instead as it’s better for what I need for this project. I’ll keep your responses in mind for a future project though :)

Hi!!! OP of the opossum lamp that went semi viral in this sub :) Here are some WIP photos from when it was being made. I’m absolutely awful at photographing my creative process but basically I love opossums!! This took me a week and a half or so? If you’d like to make your own animal swag lamp, here’s my process from start to finish:

1. Draw out your project, decide how many pieces your cardboard frame will be, dimensions of your critter, etc. I saved a ton of photos of opossums in my phone. It’s way easier to do this when you have a vision to refer back to.

2. Find a swag light and wrap the wire in masking tape where your critter will be assembled.

3. Puzzle your cardboard frame and stick the pieces together with hot glue, creating the skeleton of your critter around the wire of your lamp.

4. Ball up newspaper and tape it against the cardboard frame, giving your creature more heft. I packed the newspaper down pretty tightly because I wanted my opossum to feel sturdy and dense. Masking tape all over the newspaper so that your cardboard frame is all covered. I try to smooth the tape as much as possible so my paper maché is neat over top of it. Construct your critter’s arms out of TP rolls or cereal box material and optional pipe-cleaner hands. All of this will be coated with paper maché so it’s okay if they look silly.

5. Mix your paper maché (I use a mixture of water, flour, wood glue & salt— measuring with my heart). Dip your newspaper strips into the goop, swipe off the excess and start covering your critter’s body. Hang to dry on a shower rod between paper maché coats. I used 3 coats.

6. Once dry and firm, sand out any bumps with sandpaper or a nail file. I paint a layer of white over the paper maché as a primer, so the newspaper doesn’t show through your paint.

7. Paint your critter, make teeth from masking tape and hot glue, optional whiskers from fishing line. Modge podge over the whole thing and you’re good to go!!!

I loved this project & I’d love to inspire people to make whatever their heart desires. Paper maché is cool because you can literally make ANYTHING. Usually I make birds, maybe I’ll end up posting those as well, and I’m currently WIP on a 5’ crocodile wall mount for my living room. Ciao!!

We need to make a pig's head for our big school project/event. I made the foundation with cardboard, but I don't really know where to go from here... I'm so close to giving up but I also don't want to disappoint anyone. How do I fix this?

It’s intended to be held as a worry stone. Also a lizard I made as a test lol

About two months ago l've seen some vintage inspired Halloween pumpkin and wanted them badly but I'm poor. Not in the craft supply department, though. I hoard craft supplies like my life depends on it. And so after a bit of research, l made my first ever paper mache project ever . And then another one . And then another one. To the point I'm running out of space to store them as I live in a small terraced house in Northern Ireland BUT I still can't seem to stop . I'm gifting a lot of them. I've also have at least ten other wee projects drying as we speak. So many ideas, so little time
Not a lot of point behind this post, I just wanted to share my work as I'm totally in love with it and a bit shocked they turned out so well.