I usually like to do stealth upcycling,
wherein the viewer doesn't realize that the object or art was made (usually for
free) out of trash. I'm particularly
delighted with this project because I think it actually looks like hammered
gold. And, yes, it was completely
free. Plus it weighs a good deal less
than it would if it were gold!
It was not a quickie project, but it was
really satisfying to make. A tutorial follows after the jump if you would like one of your own.
Here are the materials for the armature of
the mirror. Basically, we are talking
cardboard and a small mirror.
And here are my papier-mâché ingredients.
Most people would probably plan out their
project. I would recommend that, in
fact, even though I winged it.
Sketch out your design directly onto the
cardboard you are going to use. Feel
free to erase and redraw -- no one is going to see this. The cardboard I used was from a shoe box,
although the contained boots and was fairly sturdy. There's going to be lots of layering before you're done. So don't feel that you need to find
bomb-proof cardboard or anything.
Cut out what you have sketched. I used a combination of regular scissors,
heavy-duty scissors for cardboard and plastic, and my X-acto knife. Now you have the basic shape of what will be
the first of three layers.
Next, the second layer. Do you want your waves to match or to appear
more random? Either takes
planning. I chose random, of course, so
I had to check and make sure that my waves were varied. Remember, you can always rotate or flip the
second layer rather than starting over and making a new one. Also, you'll want to think a little bit
about the proportion, and how much of the first layer you want to see behind
the second, and how much of the second layer you want to see behind the top, or
third layer. The second layer needs an
opening the size of the mirror.
The mirror does not have to fit exactly
because the third layer will have an opening that is slightly smaller, covering
up any tiny gaps between the cardboard and the mirror. When the third layer is on top of the second
layer you will not see the edges of the mirror. I was particularly happy about this because my mirror's edges
were rather sharp.
I tried out the two layers together, and then
moved on to making my third layer.
Here, I want the opening to be slightly smaller, as discussed above, so
that the mirror's edges are concealed, and so that it would not fall out if I
opted not to glue it. (I did opt to
glue it, but I'm hoping that explanation makes it more clear how everything
goes together.)
I used cheap white tempera paint on the
second layer so that I would have enough contrast to check and see if I liked
my waves.
As it turned out, I didn't. So I made another second layer. I then played with rotating and flipping
over the various layers until I got my waves where I wanted them. I did not want the waves to run to parallel
for very long on any one area, and I also wanted a fairly consistent distance
between the edges. As you can see,
rotating and flipping gave me a variety of options. These are all the same three pieces of cardboard.
Once I had committed to the design, I
carefully traced in pencil around the second and third layers and put a dot at
the top of each. Not only did I want to
be able to reassemble it the way I had decided, I did not want to get
papier-mâché texture underneath any of the layers. They need to lie flat.
Papier-mâché is bumpy. Ergo, only
the visible parts of the layers would be covered with papier-mâché.
I also made a hole in the first/bottom layer
to hang the mirror. I made sure to put
it where the second/middle layer would conceal the hole. I made a horizontal line instead of a
circle, though, as the weight distribution of the final project is pretty
random and I couldn’t be sure exactly how it was going to hang.
I traced the bottom layer and made a backing
for it, a totally unnecessary step for most people since the back of the mirror
will be up against a wall, but since this was an item I planned to sell, I
wanted to class it up a bit.
Now, on to making papier-mâché!
I followed the instructions in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQkAvR_rL_E
(NOTE: You are encouraged to find a
papier-mâché recipe that works for you.
This one doesn’t work all that well for me and I am still enough
experimenting to figure out what I’m doing wrong. It’s not cohesive enough to be worked like clay and it should
be.) There is no measuring
involved. The ingredients are:
* Tissue paper, soaked overnight, or in my
case, for about a week and a half since I got busy with other things
*White powdered chalk, the kind used for
marking the ground in construction, which I had to call around to a lot of
hardware stores to find
* Sawdust, as fine as you can find. (Thanks,
Dad!)
* Linseed oil, to help prevent mold
* PVA or white glue. You can buy it by the gallon in the hardware
store.
Here is the basic procedure.
Rip up the tissue paper (or newspaper, or
recycled office paper) into bits, I suppose about an inch square. Soak it overnight, if you like, and boil it,
if you like.
Make more than you think you need and then
don't fret about how much. It's going
to have to dry for a couple of days between applications, so you'll have plenty
of time to make more. You can make
papier-mâché beads with the left overs.
Pulp the paper in the blender, making sure to
include a generous amount of water, and not to do too much paper at the same
time. Don't you love my ‘70s thrifted
crafting blender?
Run the pulp through a strainer to get rid of
the excess water. You're supposed to
resist the urge to mash the pulp too much, so as not to compact the
fibers. What you see here is about one
fourth of my total. You need twice as
much paper than you do the other ingredients.
When I am done, mine looks like this.
I added about half as much sawdust as I had
paper pulp.
I added about half as much chalk as I had
paper pulp.
I poured in a random amount of linseed oil,
perhaps a tablespoon or two.
Mix.
About this point, I have despaired of getting anything that looks
remotely like papier-mâché.
I kept adding glue and stirring until it started
to look like something shapeable. Here
are some of my first batch. Obviously
it wasn't enough to cover the surface area I needed to cover.
It looks like spoilt tuna. And it never holds together like it's
supposed to. It's supposed to be like
clay and it isn't. It does work, but
it's not much fun to work with, so you're strongly advised to seek out your own
papier-mâché recipe. The Internet
abounds in papier-mâché recipes and not all of them require chalk and sawdust.
Next, I began applying the papier-mâché to
the cardboard.
In between uses, leftover papier-mâché can be
stored in the refrigerator. I have kept
mine in there up to a week or two.
Go ahead and cover all three layers. I had wanted to dry mine propped up on something
so it would not stick to what was underneath it, but the moisture from the
papier-mâché made the cardboard tend to curve, so I used waxed paper instead,
plus a book to keep the large piece flat.
The second application of papier-mâché I used to cover the edges, smooth out areas that
needed it, and add more variety to the surface.
I particularly wanted to cover up spots like
this.
Cardboard is many things, but it is not chic!
After the second layer of papier-mâché was
completely dry, I sanded it to smooth over jagged edges and rough spots. Here’s a before and after.
I primed it using left-over outdoor primer
since I had plenty on hand, but you could use gesso, or just white paint.
I painted the bottom and top players gold,
using less than one 2 ounce bottle of DecoArt acrylic gold paint. Next time, I will paint the underside edge of
the top layer, as it turned out to be visible in the mirror. (Hadn’t thought of
that!)
I was worried that the three layers would not
be distinct enough, and that what I was trying to do with the waves would be
lost. I didn’t want my mirror to be floating amid a big gold blob. So for the middle layer, I wanted a slightly
different color. I painted a base coat
of copper, let it dry, and then did a layer of gold, then in some places so
that the copper undertone shone through.
You can see I am halfway done, the color is
slightly different. It probably isn't
different enough, so if I did made another three-layer mirror I might do the middle layer in
copper or silver or black.
I made the hole for hanging the mirror a
little neater with slips of scratch paper then I sealed the opening with
multiple coats of ModPodge.
Next, I glued the layers together, one at a
time. Just for fun, I brushed PVA (a.k.a. white glue) on one layer and
industrial-strength Beacon 527 on the other.
I worked way too hard on this to have it fall apart! I let each layer dry completely before
adding the next, although I glued the second layer and the mirror on to the
bottom layer at the same time.
I had to touch up some areas that didn't get
quite enough gold paint.
All done!
Next stop -- An upcycled art exhibit!
Questions and comments welcome!
I hope this inspires you to do some creative recycling of your own!
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