How to Make a Paper Bowl

Ingredients

• Three sheets of construction paper (same color)
• Old newspaper or magazine (colorful ones are fun)
• Blender
• Water
• Colander
• Large pan or bowl
• Vegetable oil
• Kitchen sieve (This is the mold for your bowl so make sure it's the size you want your bowl to be.)

Instructions

1. Tear the construction paper and one or two pages from the newspaper or magazine into one-inch squares.


2. Blend the paper with half a blender-full of water until it is the consistency of a smoothy. This mixture is called slurry.


3. Pour the slurry into the colander over your large pan or bowl, and let the excess water drain out. Do not squeeze the water out of the slurry or it will be lumpy. That's the voice of experience.


4. Apply a coating of vegetable oil to the sieve, so the finished bowl doesn't stick. (This is important. We forgot the oil on one of our bowls and it was hard to take out.)
   


5. Scoop the slurry into the sieve and press it into a uniformly thick layer all around the inside of the sieve. Press the excess water out with your fingers.


6. Let the bowl dry. It will take from one to three days. Most construction paper fades quickly in the sun; consider that when you decide where to leave your bowl to dry.


7. Enjoy your bowl!