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Paper Recipes

Michelangelo's Fresco Board

Ingredients

Mat board

Lime based gesso (lime is less expensive than marble based gesso)

Fresco really is the art of painting on wet plaster but this recipe for fresco board will give you the same feel. Prime mat board with gesso. Let dry. Use watercolor or tempera paint to create your very own fresco.

Basic Paper Mache

Ingredients:

Newspaper

Flour

Water

Mixing bowl

Tempera paints

Balloons

Pinata anyone? Mix up water and flour to make a thick paste. Tear strips of newspaper about one or two inches wide. Dip strips into glue and squeeze of excess. Wrap the strips around a balloon or other form in criss-cross layers. Let dry and apply one or two more coats.

Tissue Paper Sculpture Mix

Ingredients

Tissue paper or streamers

Starch

This is a fun lightweight sculpting compound. Tear or cut tissue paper into little pieces. Put in a blender and add starch. Blend until it is a smooth. Add food coloring to white tissue mixture. Be careful, colored tissue when wet will stain.

Make your own paper

coming soon

What to do with paper pulp?

Find molds in your house. Ideas below:

plastic halloween masks, molds, chicken wire cookie cutters and candy molds, to make press enough pulp into the mold to fill it completely. embed a loop of string to act as the hanger, then continue filling the mold with more pulp.

Shrinking Plastic Stuff

Ingredients

# 6 Recyclable clear plastic (This plastic is thin and clear. The containers that delis and grocery use is often this type of plastic.)

Scissors

Permanent markers

Toy recipes

Growing Crystals

Ingredients

small stones or charcoal

6 tablespoons salt

6 tablespoons bluing

6 tablespoons water

1 tablespoons ammonia

Food coloring

No weeding required for this garden. First place (or should we say "plant") the stones in a shallow pan or dish. Combine all remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the rocks. Drop food coloring over the top of the rocks. Warning. Ammonia gasses are poisonous.

Personalized Face Masks

Ingredients

Plaster of paris bandages

Vaseline

Water

This makes a great mask to decorate. Also works well for using as a mold. (See paper section for casting recipes) Begin by preparing the face. Tie the hair back and apply a lot of vaseline to the entire face. Use scissors to cut the bandages into small strips no longer than 4 inches. Dip one piece of the bandage in a bowl of water. Lift the bandage out of the bowl and let the excess water drip back into the bowl. Apply to the face and smooth the strip down with your fingers. Repeat this process overlapping the bandages each time. When the mask is dry, gently remove from the face and paint.

Ocean Wave Toy

Ingredients

Water

Oil

Blue food coloring

This toy is based on the principal that water and oil do not mix. The blue water will stay separate from the oil. Fill a plastic bottle 3/4 full of water. Add the blue food co loring to the water. Put the cap on and shake gently. Next add oil to fill the container. Squeeze a line of glue around the neck of the bottle and put some inside the cap. Screw on the cap tight and let dry. Turn upside down and watch the waves come in.

Parachuting Person

Ingredients

Plastic Wrap

See-through tape

Hole punch

Tooth floss

Parachuter (A home made clay figure works well. Just remember to include a hole in the top.

On the count of three.One, two, three jump!! Well in this case you only need to throw. Start by cutting out a square of plastic that measure. Use strips of clear tape around the edges on both sides. Put a piece of tape across all the corners on both sides. This will prevent your parachute from ripping. Next use a paper punch to put hole in all four corner. The punch should go through the part that has been taped. Take the pieces of string and tie to the four corners then tie them all together at the bottom. Keep the strings at an equal length. Attach your parachuter to the parachute. Gather up the parachute and parachuter in your hand and throw up into the air. You may have to experiment with the weight of your parachuter. A small pebble will be way to light, your cat will be way too heavy. A lightweight clay figure with a hole up top works well.

Charm Necklace

Charms and beads. Use the recipes for shrinky stuff, clay and or paper mash to make your own charms and beads.

Scissors

Permanent markers

Hole punch

Aluminum foil

Embrodiary floss or tooth floss (for stringing jewels)

A charm necklace remind you of all the wonderful things you have done, places you have been or things that you love. Trace or draw patterns of your favorite things with permanent markers onto the plastic. (Or make one as a gift and include charms for their favorite things.) Cut the shape out with scissors. Put a hole in the top with the hole punch. Place on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. Place in a oven heated to 250 degrees until the pieces shrink. It will take only a few seconds. Cut a piece of emboriary thread to fit around your neck and tie off. Once the charms are cool, loop a piece of embrodiary thread through the hole and tie. Use the trailing threads to tie onto the necklace.

Fishing Game

Ingredients

Need

Stick

String

Paper Mache fish

Magnets

Glue

Whirly Bug

Ingredients

Paper plates

Scissors and tape

Plastic spoons

Pebble

Rubber band

Paint, or markers to decorate

This high-flying bug isn't a nuisance at all.

1. Cut the plate in half, then cut one half into three equal wedges. Tape one wedge to the bottom of the intact half. 2. Sandwich the pebble between the spoon bowls, then bind the spoons with the rubber band.3. Tape the spoons to the bottom of the paper plate half. Draw on a face. 4. To fly, throw like a paper airplane. Adjust the pebble size to improve flight.

Gift Recipes

Rock Candy Suckers and Coffee Stirrers

5 cup sugar

2 cup water

Food coloring

Glass jar

Plastic coffee can lid

Wooden coffee stirs, bamboo skewers, popsicle sticks

Candy thermometer

Wooden spoon

Beautiful and yummy! The sugar sticks are a great way to stir in sugar to coffee and tea and make a great gift idea. After bringing water to a boil, add sugar. Continue to boil until the temperature reaches above 260°F. Let the sugar mixture cool for five minutes and then poor into glass jar. Add food coloring. Punch the bamboo skewer through the plastic coffee can lid and place on top of jar. The skewer should not touch the bottom of the jar. Wait seven days to left the lid.

Snow Globe

Ingredients

Glass baby food jar with lid

Paint

Household cement

Water

Buttons, small plastic trinkets, glitter, plastic confetti (Can be made from cutting small pieces of plastic plates, milk bottles, etc.

Clean and remove label from jar. Glue plastic trinkets in the bottom of the jar. Paint the lid. Let the lid and jar dry completely. Fill the jar with water. Put a gob of plastic glitter or confetti in the jar. Carefully squeeze a line of glue around the lid and neck of the jar. Screw on the lid and set aside to dry. When the globe is dry, turn it upside down to see the snowfall.

Party Fun Recipes

Party Blower

Ingredients

2" x 11" strip of paper folded length wise

10 1/2" wire

White Glue

Tape

Feather

For your next party surprise your guests by making your own party favors. Or have your guests help out! The doing is half the fun. Open the folded paper strip and tape the wire down the center. Squeeze a line of glue along the three edges. Seal and let dry. Tape down a feather at the end. Fold in the corners of one end to form a pointy triangle. Cut off the very top. This is where you will blow. Decorate with markers, crayons or pencils and then wind around a pencil.

Gum Wrapper Streamer

Ingredients

Gum wrappers

This takes a while so start working on your streamer far in advance of your party. Smooth the wrapper out and then fold the outside edges to the middle (the long way). Then fold once again in half. Next fold in half to crease and unfold. Bring in the ends to the center crease. Work this link into the folds of a previous link, and drape around the room.

Edible Fishbowl

Clean glass fishbowl

Three 6 ounce packages of blueberry gelatin.

1 cup grapes

Gummy fish, worms, sharks

Let's go fishing! This is fish bowl is a party hit! Prepare three 6 ounce packages of blueberry gelatin according to the directions and refrigerate until partially set. Meanwhile decorate the ocean floor (bottom of fish bowl) with berries. This is the rock y bottom. Add weeds if you like. Spoon the blue "water" over the fruit. Push gummy fish into the gelatin with wooden skewer stick. Add weeds if you like by pushing down short stalks of fresh mint. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Things for the home and bath

Bath Salts

Ingredients

Epsom salts

Food coloring

Fragrance (scented oils)

A great gift to make for mom or grandma! Mix salt and food coloring together in a zip lock bag. Shake until the coloring is evenly distributed. Fill a baby food jar, label, decorate the jar lid, and try a ribbon around the jar.

Crayon Soap

Ingredients

3/4 cup soap powder

1 tsp warm water

food coloring

These "crayons" really won't draw, but they do erase dirt. Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Add food coloring. Mold the clay into crayon shapes and let dry.

Bathroom finger paints

Ingredients

Liquid soap

Food coloring

These finger paints are great for the bathtub. Draw on the tile or even on yourself. Don't worry everything washes off clean. Pour liquid soap into squeeze bottles. (Ketchup bottles work well) Add food coloring. Make a few different colors for added fun.

Candles (adult supervision required!!!!!)

Ingredients

Chopped white wax 2 and 3/4 cups

Colored crayons

Cotton twine.

Coffee cans

Pan of water

Cream carton

Plastic drinking straw

Place the wax in a can with your choice of colored crayons (2 crayons should be enough) Set the can in a pan of water and melt over the stove at a very low heat.

Dip the twin in the wax and lay it out on a flat surface to harden. Pour the wax mixture into the carton. Let cool until think but not hard. Stand the straw in the center of the carton. When dry peel away the carton. Carefully remove the straw. Insert the wick where the straw was.