Here are a few basic craft medium recipes. I’m sure that most have these, but just in case:

 Paper Mâché

 1 part flour

2 parts water

pinch of salt (to prevent molding)

 or

 2 parts white glue

1 part water

 or

 1 part liquid starch

1 part cold water

Mix ingredients together to a consistency like thin glue, trying to get rid of lumps.  We use our hands for this. Dip newspaper strips into mixture and remove excess mixture. Apply to the mold you create out of things like inflated balloons, chicken wire frames, rolled up newspaper, old light bulbs, paper towel or TP tubes, or anything else or combination of things you have used to create your frame.  Place as many layers as needed to get desired results. Let dry completely, them paint and decorate as desired. We have made all kinds of things with this; the world, piñatas, and models of all types. Stetches the kids’ imaginations when they are trying to make the forms to place the paper mâché on.

Modeling Dough

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

water

Mix ingredients together, adding water to make dough pliable.  This dough will air-dry to harden or can be baked at 300° for about an hour, depending on how thick the project is.

Paint and decorate as desired. We have added plastic trees and other items to our projects before they have air dried with pretty neat results.

You can tint the dough with food coloring or tempera paints, but we don’t usually because of the staining.

If you don’t want the dough to harden add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to the mixture and store in airtight container or bag in cool place.

We use this alot for Geography, making 3-d models of each continent that we study.