Tissue Paper Bowls

I saw this craft on Design Mom a few weeks ago -- she used balloons to shape tissue paper into beautiful paper mache bowls. We didn't have any balloons in the house, so Anouk and I adapted the craft a bit by using kitchen bowls of various shapes and sizes for our designs.

First, we coated the outsides of the bowls with cooking oil and covered them in plastic wrap. Then A. and I got to work tearing strips of tissue paper into small pieces, and pasting them to the plastic wrap with a thin coat of watered down Elmer's glue. After about three or four layers the bowls seemed pretty completely covered, so we set them outside and let them dry. An hour later, we (read: I) gently turned the tissue paper bowls out and sat back to admire the pretty stained glass effect of the light coming through the paper.

We trimmed the edges of the biggest and smallest bowls, but I thought the ragged edge on the purple bowl (which A. did all by herself) was kind of cool so we left it. Currently, our bowls are scattered around the house holding small things like loose change and pins (I like to throw them in there as I sew, so much quicker than poking them into a cushion) and the random stuff A. collects on her travels around the house and yard.

We really enjoyed this project -- it doesn't take a lot of finesse and there is something therapeutic about turning your mind off and just piling the colors on. I'm currently thinking about ways to adapt this project for the holidays, so stay tuned. This craft will surely pop up again in the coming months.