Valentine’s Day is a the perfect occasion to host a holiday craft night. Whether you’re hosting a craft night for school aged children, a Galentine’s craft night or a craft night for older adults, a paper maché bowl is a relaxing craft, perfect for groups. The craft involves repeating the same step over and over again so it doesn’t take much thought or concentration to complete. This means you can easily chat the night away as you make this craft. I mean after all, the whole point of a craft night is socialization, right?
On average, not including drying time, it can take around an hour or two to make one bowl, depending on how big the bowl is. This is the perfect duration for a craft night event – you don’t want a craft that is quick to make because that will conclude your event faster than you probably want.
Of course, depending on home decor aesthetics, not everyone will like the idea of having a paper maché bowl in plain sight. (I know a couple of people that might consider a bowl made out of paper as garbage.) But that doesn’t mean the craft can’t be functional! The bowl can be placed in a drawer to hold small items and function as an organizer. In this project, I’ve used Valentine’s Day colors to make the bowl into a candy bowl for little chocolate hearts! Another cute idea is to use the bowl to hold postage stamps for letter writing!
This bowl is made with solid colored sheets of cardstock but you can also recycle greeting cards or photos (any kind of paper that is a little thick really) to make a bowl that has meaning or sentimental value to you. Thick book pages from a thrifted paperback novel would make adorable literary themed decor. (I think I will try that next to be honest because I love literary themed decor!)
Materials
- Circle punch (this one is ¾”)
- Cardstock, various Valentine’s colours such as pinks, red and white
- Mod podge
- Brush
- Bowl (for form)
- Cling wrap
Steps for Making a Paper Maché Bowl
- Choose a bowl that you would like to use as the form. Cover the exterior with cling wrap.
- Using the circle punch, make several circles from different shapes of paper.
- Working outwards from the base of the bowl, place the paper circles around the bowl with mod podge glue and a brush.
- Let dry (overnight is always a good idea). Gently remove the paper bowl from the bowl you used as the form. Then, gently remove the cling wrap from the inside of the paper bowl.
Did you make this DIY of ours? We’d love to see it! Share with us on Instagram or Facebook @helloholydays.
If you make this DIY and share photos of your version on your own blog, please include a link back to this page as your source of inspiration and tag @helloholydays on all social media.
If you prefer to purchase Valentine’s Day cards rather than craft them, check out my shop for greeting cards perfect to express love on Valentine’s Day or anytime of the year.
Want more Valentine’s Day crafts? Check out our list of Valentine’s Day Crafts.
This craft was first created by Manal Aman for marthastewart.com before being republished on Hello Holy Days!
