Triangle Bin

James needs a bin for his room. James likes TRIANGLES. I made him a TRIANGLE bin out of paper mache. I like paper mache.

I rolled up three sheets of newspaper, folded them in half and taped them together to make a TRIANGLE.

I did this a few times and layered all the TRIANGLES on top of each other.

I started to paper mache it. I thought if I did too much at once it might get soggy and collapse so I just did one layer on the outside and just over the top. Then I left it to dry for four months.

Next I did the inside and then the floor, which I made from the newspaper sheet I'd initially used to stop the thing gluing itself to the table. As that sheet was stuck in place anyway, I just folded it over and glued down.

Then I decided the edges looked too chunky so I squashed them down with a book (which I wrapped in a plastic sheet because I wasn't gonna accidentally glue anything else to it).

After all three edges had been squashed the TRIANGLE was ready for decorating. James likes TRIANGLES, so I cut up loads of TRIANGLES from different colours of paper, card and tissue paper.

I squirted a few paints onto the bin and swirled it around to cover the newspaper. Then, with the paint still wet, I started to stick my TRIANGLES all over it. I added PVA glue for the paper and card ones but the tissue paper ones didn't need it.

Once it had dried I painted the inside. I didn't stick any TRIANGLES in there because you wouldn't see them if he's using his bin, but I did glue a few more tissue paper ones to the outside. And I let some of them overlap to create EXTRA TRIANGLES!

After it had dried it still didn't have enough TRIANGLES covering it, so I drew some on with felt tip pens.

I think that's enough triangles :)

Trinkets Bowl

I like paper mache. I'mma make a little trinkets bowl from paper mache :)

I take a plastic bowl and put a sheet of cling film over it, so the cling film bowl is shallower than the plastic one. Then I layer some paper mache over it. First newspaper, then pretty paper.

I let it dry then take it out of the bowl. Cling film always peels right off. I want my bowl to be steady so I make a ring around the bottom with a roll of glue soaked newspaper. I fix it in place with more paper mache strips.

And after it's all dry I just paint the bottom purple.

Castle Smethansmee

As promised, I hereby present the project I've been working on for the past few weeks. It's a two and a half foot castle made using paper mache.

I have named it after myself, egotist that I am. Behold, Castle Smethansmee :

I started with a big cardboard box and some egg boxes. I cut up the egg boxes to make crenellations (AKA knobbly bits) and taped them around the top of my castle.

Next I made turrets from rolls of newspaper, and the roofs from cones of newspaper.

I paper mache'd the whole thing with kitchen paper - mainly because I wanted the castle to have a stoney texture to it; newspaper is a bit smooth.

Then I painted it grey. I mixed the black and white paints on the walls of the castle because I didn't want it to have a flat colour.

Next I made the door. I cut door shapes from card and drew an outline on them. Then I glued them in place on my castle.

I used this glue, which is supposed to dry with a shiney, protective finish that won't get gummy if it gets wet again. This would be useful as I intend to put the castle in the living room and it will most likely have cups of tea put on it every day.

I cut some squareish shapes out of various fabrics in my scrap box, and glued them down to look like bricks around my doorway. Next I drew the windows with a black felt tipped pen.

Time to lay the rest of the brickwork. I did the walls first, starting at the top and working my way down.

After that I did the top of the box, then the turrets.

When all the bricks were laid, I set to work fastening my box. I had left one side of the box openable because boxes are much more useful when you can get inside. I made three holes in one door by hammering a nail through, and I fixed a paper fastener into each hole.

I made three corresponding holes in the other door and threaded an elastic band through each. I secured the bands in place using a piece of folded card.

The elastic bands hook over the paper fasteners to secure the doors.

Finally, I had to finish the roofs for my turrets. Originally, I was going to cover them in bricks like the rest of the castle but frankly, I was sick of laying bricks.

Anyway, I looked on Google Images and concluded that they should look different from the rest of the castle. So I painted them purple to match the door, and I did them in varying shades by mixing blue and red paint directly on the surface I was painting.

After they had dried I noted two problems. One, I hadn't painted them very well (meaning not enough purple). Two, the colour was too dark. So I added white into the mix for a second coat.

Once dry, I glued the roofs to their turrets and painted them with a layer of the glue for a shiny finish.

And here is the finished product in its prided place.