Paper Mache Clay Tutorial (WIP)

While there's so many tutorials online to make this, I figured I might as well post my own.  It's a WIP for now, as this is my first version of the recipe.
I'm not sure how the clay in other tutorials turns out, but this hardens into an extremely strong shell.

Items needed
Some type of paper
3 or more bowls (just for ease, not really needed.)
Pasta/or something strainer
Elmer's (or some type) of safe, non-toxic glue. (you'll use a good amount of this.)
Flour (only a little bit)
Salt (a small amount, like a tablespoon, just to prevent mold from growing.)
Gloves (not really needed, but really helpful.)

The creation of the clay/paste will take about an hour, depending on how much you have.  Applying it will take probably another hour, again depending on how much you have.  Left out on a hot, sunny, non-humid day will take about 7 hours to dry.

This will get stuff messy, so be prepared to clean up the mess.  Pictures of the mess below might be a bit gross too, so sorry.  D:

Now for the tutorial, hope this can help someone!





First, shred paper, newspaper, toilet paper (never tried this but it should work), or basically any paper that can become a soft pulp.

You'll need a lot of paper, like the amount in the grocery bag above, since it'll become a compressed mush.  I use a paper shredder, though you can tear/chop/destroy the paper any way you like.  It should be in small pieces, about 4x1cm a piece.

Once you have a large amount, soak it in a bowl of water for 30 mins to soften it and turn it into a mush, as pictured below.

(If you're working with newspaper, once you're done soaking it, drain the water, add more water, and clean the blob of ink and paper, otherwise you're going to get everything covered in newspaper ink.)




Get ready to use your blender now!

(Warning/Disclaimer: Do not put too much paper and/or too little water in at one time, otherwise you WILL burn out the blender's motor.  You should add an overly safe amount of water, and a small clump of paper to start, then you can slowly change the ratio.  Just don't blame me if it burns out.)

You'll want to place a small handful of the paper into the blender and add enough water to submerge it and then some, like shown below.

Blend it for a moment, until it becomes a liquidy mush.

Pour the mush into a strainer and shake around to remove any excess water.  Try to squeeze out as much water as possible from it.  It's really helpful separating all of stuff, like shown below.