How to Make a Sea Urchin Out of Paper
- 1). Make the papier-mache paste. Combine 3/4-cups all-purpose flour with 2 1/2-cups cold water in a mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients together with a spatula.
- 2). Pour 2 cups of water into a saucepan. Place the saucepan on a stovetop burner and set the heat to high. Allow the water to boil and then pour the contents of the bowl into the saucepan. Mix the ingredients together with the spatula. Bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat. Stir 3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar into the pan and allow it to cool and thicken.
- 3). Rip up strips of tissue paper. Set the paper aside. Place the plastic foam ball in the center of the working station. Dip the tissue paper into the bowl of papier-mache paste, saturating the paper. Slap the paper onto the plastic foam ball so it sticks. Press the tissue paper down with your fingers. Move onto the next piece of tissue paper and continue this process until the whole ball is covered with paper. For a sea urchin, you might create an all black, all pink or all purple tissue paper-covered plastic foam ball.
- 4). Paint wooden toothpicks with acrylic paint so that they match the color of the tissue paper sea urchin. The spines on a sea urchin are the same color as the body. Apply a thin coating of paint onto the toothpick and then stick the toothpick directly into the plastic foam ball so that it sticks out like a spine. Continue doing this until the sea urchin ball is covered in spines, and before the papier-mache dries. Once the papier-mache dries, it will become too hard and tough for the toothpicks to penetrate the plastic foam ball.
- 5). Allow the papier-mache sea urchin to dry for four hours. Apply shellac with a paintbrush over the papier-mache and in between the toothpicks. The shellac acts as a sealant and a gloss. Allow to dry another two hours.