3 Year Old boy+ Love of cars+ Halloween= Paper Mache Racecar Helmet!

Silas had his first brush with Paper Mache.  I don't think he knows what is really going on here.  He believes there will be a race car helmet in the end... I'm not sure he understands how a balloon some water, flour and some old newspapers are going to make that happen.  Magic beans?  Lucky for him, No.

Paper Mache is pretty easy.  I really have no recipe.  Just an idea will get you started as long as you have a base like a balloon from which you can let your idea come to life.

Silas let me measure his head, I blew up the balloon to a size a couple inches bigger in circumference and we went to work.  Well... I am going to work.  My big boy is not a fan of sticky hands so he opted to help brush my work with the flour water slop using a basting brush. :-)

Paper Mache "glue"
Mix up to form a very watery paste.
1 or 2 cups warm water
1 Heaping Tablespoon of flour

The flour is the glue and you don't want your newspaper to be white and sloppy so more water and less flour will do you just fine.

I used a plastic box for the glue as you can see from the photo.  We used a bowl to hold the balloon steady as we placed the paper mache on it.  It also helps with drying (hint: turn the balloon over from time to time as it dries). As we ripped the paper we put it into the slop one piece at a time and wiped off excess with one swoop on the edge of the box so it would not be too watery.  From there you just place it on the balloon and smooth and repeat.  Overlap the pieces in a random matter.  Make one layer of newspaper let it dry and do another let it dry and so on...  It will probably take a day for the first layer to dry and less time after that.  Paper mache is a slow process though so get started far in advance for a good project. :-)

We'll check in again in a few days to see how far we've come.