I've had some experience with this paper craft when I was a kid, mostly because it was a school project. In high school, we also made something similar but instead of paper, we used sawdust. For papier mache', we used some sort of paste. I remember we used gawgaw (starch) which, when mixed with water and stirred constantly over medium flame, will eventually turn into something very much like paste. We did not have to keep count on how many cupps of water and gawgaw we needed; everything was approximated. And then, to keep the shelf life of the paste longer, we would add some vinegar at the same time as the water and gawgaw is mixed.
Many books I read make use of watered-down PVC paste. Now, PVC paste is something I am not familiar with and so I am going to use the next best thing: flour and water (with some vinegar).
Here is the procedure to make paste from flour as adapted from The Papier Mache Resource website:
Ingredients:
4 cups boiling water
1 cup cold water
3/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons vinegar (optional)
Procedure:
Mix the cold water and the flour until well-blended. Make sure there are no lumps. If you would like the paste to keep for more than a week, add the vinegar. I cooked a batch and it was promptly consumed for a week and it looked like it can still go for a week more.
Pour the mixture into the boiling water (over medium heat). Stir constantly. Soon, the mixture will thicken and turn into a gooey consistency. This will take about three to four minutes. Set aside and let cool.
I use a plastic milk bottle to store my paste. Very handy.
You can use this paste not only for papier mache' but also for other projects that need large amounts of paste.
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