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RE: paper mache

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From: Kramer, Bunki [LC] (bkramer_at_TeacherArtExchange)
Date: Mon Jan 26 2004 - 09:19:35 PST

-----Original Message-----
From: sandra summers-barrick [mailto:tamayo@cinci.rr.com]
Sent: Mon 1/26/2004 6:58 AM
To: ArtsEdNet Talk
Cc:
Subject: paper mache

Bunki,

        I have a question about paper mache. We are making animolitos with the
8th grade. The armatures look pretty good. I was going to have them
cover it with newspaper and paper mache. The art room I inherited has no
Ross' art paste, which is what I have at home (several boxes) and have
used before. I have 2 classes of 32. Yet I don't have the money that the
PTS still owes me (40$) and no time to order it. (class is tomorrow-we
have a snow day today).My question is,Would flour and water do? Seems
like that's all I used when I was young to make pinatas. Took a long
time to dry. I personally have 5 boxes of art paste, but I found a 10
pound bag of cake flour in the art room and I can't imagine any other
use for it. What do you think???
        Please answer today if you can.
Thanks,
Sandra
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Hi. I'm at school right now for a teacher's workday and trying to do grades which are being sent for the first time using our new district software...gurrrrr! You can imagine how well it's going.

To answer your question. I PREFER flour and water over anything else because it dries rock hard. The sculptures you saw on my site were done with Ross Paste simply because I had it on stock. I've also used liquid starch straight from the bottle but they don't make the good kind of starch anymore.

I use regular 25-pound bags of flour and keep it dry forever in a covered garbage container which I can roll out of the storage room when I need it. It's the messiest of maches but it's cheap and good. I don't know about "cake" flour but I imagine it would be the same thing. Test it first.

The biggest problem is you have to mix it up each day fresh because it really gets stinky overnight. I demoed to kids how to take a cup of flour and 3/4 cup of water and mix their own each day. The middlers can handle that.

Gotta run. Bunki 

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