Little Island Art Department

Fall Leaf Tray ~ Paper Mache

I love the Folk Art look of Paper Mache, how easy and inexpensive it is and the endless opportunities for creativity. A tray is a simple thing but by making it out of paper mache you can make any shape you like and paint it any way you like. Paper mache does take a little practice and a lot of patience but it's easy to master. Paper mache projects are great on going projects to do with kids at home and when there isn't a lot of time, you can make things for kids to paint like castles, robots, animals, and boxes, which they love...especially when the hard part is done for them! There is the basic forming of a shape, covering with starch dipped newspaper (I prefer liquid starch), drying time, possibly another coat of paper mache, and a coat of jesso before final painting and some gloss finish. Worth the time as the results are special one of a kind creations.

For Fall leaf you will need ~
A leaf pattern, any size (mine is appx 21"x13") and any leaf shape. There are lots of leaf shape templates online.
Basic supplies like knife, scissor, pencil etc.
Corregated cardboard large enough for your shape. I buy sheets (3ftx6ft) at a janitorial supply company but you can use boxes or purchase sheets at a craft store.
Newspaper torn (not cut!) in strips, a variety of sizes or appx 2"x10" or close enough.
Liquid Starch, found at most markets, and Smart and Final. You can use any paper mache recipe you like but I find nothing is as smooth and easy to use as starch and when dry, I like the crisp surface it makes.
Masking Tape. Have lots of pre-torn strips ready as you will need a lot when applying the tray rim.
Jesso, Acrylic Paints in Fall colors ~ Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Magenta (opptional) Brown, Black (if outlining a design). I like Windsor & Newton tube paints but you can also use the little plastic bottles sold at all craft stores, they work fine. A plate covered with foil for paints or some sort of palette, and brushes. You will want to mix up a nice variety of colors. A clear, gloss, acrylic coating or spray such as Liquitex Gloss Varnish.
Wax Paper

Create your leaf pattern, trace on cardboard and carefully cut out with a sharp knife (I prefer) or sharp scissors if that works better. For tray edge, with a string etc measure the outside of the tray and then mark and cut a strip or strips of cardboard( 1 1/2" wide works but you can make it 1"). You can piece these together if your cardboard is not long enough.

Taping the edge to the leaf will be the hardest part of this project. First get the edge piece ready by making it flexible. Just keep bending all along the strip or strips, about 1/4" at a time, almost like you are creating a circle or curved piece out of the straight strip. This way, you will be able to work it around your leaf. Start taping the edge to the tray using lots of masking tape. The curves and corners are tricky so just do your best to tuck the edge piece into the sharp turns and use a knife or pencil etc to help push and bend the piece in place. Use lots of masking tape to attach the edge piece and don't worry if it doesn't look or fit perfectly, paper mache covers up a lot. These tricky parts of creating your basic piece can be tedious and time consuming but you will get there.

When edge is done you are ready to paper mache. Pour some starch in a plate or bowl and dip newspaper pieces rhrough, squeegee excess with you fingers, and apply to tray. Make pieces smooth, especially corners and edges. It will be tricky making paper mache smooth in the tight corners so try using a pencil, a knife etc to sort of push the strips in while smoothing them the best you can. Tear some small strips for these areas. Don't apply a lot of coats of paper mache, it's not necessary and can get too lumpy. Better to apply one smooth coat, let dry, and then apply another. However, I find one good smooth coat works fine. After all, paper mache is for decorative use and though it has a certain strength, it's not for heavy use, and not for liquids.

Let tray dry which will take a day or so. It is very important that you put some sort of weights in your tray while it is drying or it will curl up. Put tray on wax paper so when dry, it will lift right off. For your weights, try to use something like rocks or fruit as they don't have sharp edges. Move them around a bit every few hours.

When tray is dry, paint on a coat of Jesso (you can also use white acrylic paint or house paint but I like Jesso) as your colors will look best starting from a white background as opposed to the grey newspaper and the surface will be easier to paint. When dry, you can draw a pattern on your leaf if you like or you can just paint random fall colors here and there. You could paint a patchwork design in Fall colors and then paint patterns on each area. Kids enjoy painting these trays and once they have a nice selection of Fall colors, they will be successful. It's good to let them know they can paint a variety of colors all over the tray, sort of the way real leaves look. I use acrylic paints and mix up a bunch of colors from my originals such as rust, red orange, gold from orange and yellow etc. When dry, paint tray with a coat of clear acrylic finish. It will look great and it will be stronger.