Papier-Mache

It’s been forever and a day since I’ve sunk my hands in a batch of papier-mache paste. So long, in fact, that I had to Google a recipe! Fancy that it’s as easy as mixing flour and water until it’s the consistency of glue, and adding a touch of salt to keep it from turing rock solid.In my googling, I learned more than I could have wanted to know about papier-mache from Wikipedia. Here are a couple of interesting tidbits:”Papier-mâché (French for ‘chewed-up paper’ because of its appearance), sometimes called paper-maché, is a construction material that consists of pieces of paper, sometimes reinforced with textiles, stuck together using a wet paste (e.g., glue, starch, or wallpaper adhesive). The crafted object becomes solid when the paste dries.^{[1]“And this: “The basic principle of papier-mâché, the making of three dimensional objects out of paper pulp, has existed for as long as the art of making paper. Papier-mâché industries have been in vogue in many places and times.”All I need is a pint of kindergarten-grade tempera paint and I’ll be good to go!}