Papier Mache & other free hobbies for all ages

nykmedia wrote: »

I'll bore you all to tears soon with my daft passtimes but kids seem to like them. This one is an adult supervised one for making hanging mobiles.

I save the metal tubes from tomato puree! Don't buy the plastic coated ones as they don't work for this

If you carefully cut off the top and the sealed edge at the bottom then cut the long edge you can open these out and they look like copper or brass inside. Use a blunt pencil and draw your shape on the printed side with enough pressure that the pattern goes right through and is embossed on the gold side. I made half a dozen seahorses last time. Once you have the shapes you can cut them out and emboss the details into them from the reverse/printed side and once completed, suspend them with thread from something like an old shower curtain ring or similar. Even make a loop (a slice from an old washing up liquid bottle has been used before, too). You can paint over the print before hanging them and they look quite nice. Use same method for making card embellishments etc.:D