Wrapping your paper mache

Hey, guys. Now that you have prepped your molds, it is time to start wrapping with those newspaper strips.

Choose the newspaper strips:
Select strips that best fit the shape you are creating. For large body parts, I use lots of medium newspaper strips (2-3 inches) and large newspaper strips (4 inches). You are better off to rip a ton and have them next to you. The paste dries kinda fast so you will have to work quickly!

Wrapping the strips:
1) Start with the largest part first, in this case the torso.
2) Dip the strips and then wrap them around the torso, just over the sides. Do not wrap around the bottom of the torso. This is where you will reach in and remove the newspaper crumples when dry!
3) Dip the strips and then wrap around each arm, leaving the wrists open.
4) Cover anywhere you have put saran wrap on the top side of your mold.

When you are finished with the top, it will look like this:

Flipping your mold:
One of the more difficult aspects is working on the other side! You are working with paste, after all, so if you flip and just lay it flat, the mold WILL STICK TO YOUR GARBAGE BAGS!

Instead, I use dish holders!
5) Flip the mold over and put it on top of your dish holder. In this way, the mold is sort-of-suspended. (You will prop your finished, wet molds on the dish holders to dry, too!)

6) Wrap just like you did the top side.

Drying time:
At this point, I turn it back over to dry on the dish holder. One layer of strips takes a long time to dry -- at least 24 hours. So be patient. It should be completely dry to the touch before you start a second or third layer.

When you come back to it, the process goes much faster!