A USE FOR OLD NEWSPAPERS.

Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 47, 13 July 1908, Page 7

A USE FOR OLD NEWSPAPERS.

K variety of very pretty articles may be made of papier mache, many of them of some commercial value. For instance, the nicest and lightest of tea-trays and small trays to hand a card or a cup of tea on are made of it. The familiar term merely means mashed paper—that is, paper reduced to a pulp by means of moisture, so that it can be made into any shape. Certain mediums can bo mixed with it, which will not only facilitate the process of manipulation, but will render the pulp as hard as wood when dry, and this hardness can be increased to almost any degree by gradual pressure while drying. To begin with, take any soft paper such as old newspapers, which are very brittle in texture, and some common flour paste. Use a plate, cup, bowl, or any such simple object as a first mould. Cut out a piece af paper roughly, large enough to well cover the outer surface, wet it, and press it down on the mould, which may be dono with the fingers and a sponge. A pad made of a couple of handfuls of silver sand, tied up tightly in a piece of strong holland, will be found very useful. Then take a broad, flat brush, cover the first paper with a layer of paste, and spread over it a second piece of wot paper like the first. Press this down with the pad, paste, and continue layer after layer of paper—twenty, thirty, forty, or even more times, according to the thickness required. You need not be too accurate, as it will not make any difference if one piece should overlap another or a tear be made. If any portions appear less thick than they should be extra patches should be put on. When all is as thick as desired, leave it to dry in a warm room, by the aid of moderate heat, for a couple of days. By then it will be dry, and will! look like thick pasteboard, only in the form of the mould. The edges can be cut even with a sharp knife, and sandpapered smooth, and then the papier macho will be ready for painting on or ornamenting in some other way. If you wish to form something fqr which no mould is available, such as a boat, cut out strips with a pair of scissors, and stitch them together or fasten them with glue. Put the ribs closer and closer together till they have the required form. Another way of working is to make the pulp rather more liquid, and press it into moulds in some hard substance, so as to take a cast. You may take the cast of the object in relief, in plaster of Paris, and this, when dry, can be first oiled, and when the oil is rubbed off again it can be used as a mould for papier mache.