CHINA Crafts - Paper Mache Chinese Bowl!

As you all may remember, I swore off paper mache now-and-forever-AMEN with last summer's craft super-disaster.

However, this craft did sound fun... so I relented and decided to give it a go!

Thankfully I'd learned some lessons from last time.

• I chose a craft with a much smaller scope - just covering a tiny bowl (not a huge balloon!).
• I found a much easier recipe for paper mache (equal parts by volume flour and water, whisked together).
• We did this outside and planned to have a bath and full-clothing change afterward.

(Original directions here. Not having PVA glue on hand, I switched over to plain paper mache, which worked beautifully.)

As usual, the 7yo did his best to head for the hills (anything to avoid getting his hands sticky!), and the 2yo did his best to dive headfirst into the goo (he glories in messes!).

Oddly enough, the 7yo is nowhere in sight. Hmm.

It took only 15 minutes to complete, and it looked pretty good! Then we had to sit back and wait a week for it to dry - during which time, of course, I questioned why on earth I had used one of my favorite mixing bowls as a form!

After it dried, we painted it in stages - three coats on the outside, then three coats on the inside. Finally, I copied the characters for "Happy New Year" onto the inside of the bowl. (This whole step-by-step process took about a month and a half!)

The end result was beautiful! Highly recommended as an easy craft when studying China - it took us a while to work through all the steps, but it was fun, kid-friendly, and made a beautiful end-product!

Enjoy!