Thursday, October 14, 2010

I Dabble In Paper Mâché

One of my favorite magazines is the DIY Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens! I've made quite a few DIY projects with inspiration from it!

For example, I made these concrete planters you see on my front porch:

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I also made some clay butterflies for our master bedroom {Which by the way, is the biggest way people get to Nuestra Vida Dulce! Who would've thought butterflies are where it's at?} :

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And, I also tried my hand at some paint swatch art for the guest room:

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If you've been reading NVD for awhile, you are well aware that I love me a good DIY! My latest DIY mag inspiration project uses something I'm very familiar with: paper maché! I've been a paper maché "artist" for years now--perfecting the always popular end-of-the-school-year piñata. Oh, the life of a Spanish teacher!

This time I used it to make a homemade flower vase out of a ketchup bottle. No joke. It's cute, I promise.

I started out with a basic rinsed out bottle with the top cut off, some newspaper {that I would later tear into strips} for the "shell", and scrapbook letters for my "S" monogram.

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I mixed my paper maché with flour and water and applied the strips of newspaper to cover 1 layer of the bottle. I had already centered my "S" and paper machéd around it.

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I let the bottle dry upside down over night and then used some white spray paint I had lying around to add a cohesive finish to it.

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After the paint dried, I added some water and a few stems of my new mums and the little vase is sitting pretty on our counter.

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The magazine did a pewter-esque finish to their vase, but I went with white. I'm sure any color would be fun!

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The empty ketchup bottle was the first thing I thought to use, but there are many other shapes that you could use that wouldn't be as obvious. : )

xoxo

12 comments:

Tonia Lee Smith said...

I haven't done a paper mache project since grade school, but I don't recall us using flour. You did a great job!

Amy said...

great idea and I wouldn't have guessed it was a ketchup bottle without reading!

p.s. I love your guest room duvet/comforter. May I ask where it's from?

TLF said...

Oh, that's so cute!! What a great idea. :)

Jeannine | The Small and Chic Home said...

Get out. A ketchup bottle? Dang. I would have never guessed if I saw the last picture first!

Sharstin said...

that is a fabulous idea--love how it turned out!

Kim @ NewlyWoodwards said...

Cute, Joi! I wouldn't have known it for a ketchup bottle.

Raine and Sage said...

Wow I love your ideas. I'm new to your blog c/- Freckles chick & with her encouragement have just voted for you. Good luck!!

Joi said...

Thanks everybody!

@Raine and Sage-Hello! Nice to "meet" you! Thanks for stopping by and for voting! : )

jandjhome said...

Very cute! I made some paper mache birds a couple of weeks ago using equal parts Elmer's glue and water. I know you can also use wheat paste. I had done some paper mache growing up, my mom's an art teacher.

emily said...

Cute! I love the addition of the "S".

Jenny @ Anything Pretty said...

What a great idea! It think the white was perfect and it turned out great!

Suzie said...

That's freaking fantastic!

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