Small containers can be made in many shapes and you can use mount board offcuts as the base.
By cutting pieces of mount board to size and soaking them in water you will be able to bend the damp mount board into many shapes. This allows you to customise the shape of your container. As well as strong cylindrical containers of any size, you can make oval, lozenges and even heart shaped containers.
Requirements for making your Paper Vessel from handmade paper
What you will need:
Mount board: You can buy a whole sheet of mount board from a stationary shop, or check with your local picture framer to see if they have mountboard offcuts. The mount board colour is not important as you will not be able to see it when it is covered with paper.
1. Decide on the shape of the base of your vessel. Draw the shape on a piece of mount board (photo 1) and cut it out. You can use a saucer or a lid to help you draw a circle on your mount board. When you are more experienced, you can make oval vessels and even vessels with wavy edges.
2. Using a tape measure, measure round the edge of your piece of mount board (photo 2). Add 4 cm to the measurements to allow for overlap.
3. Decide how high you want your vessel to be (6 cm is a good height).
4. Cut a strip of mount board using the two measurements above (photo 3). You will probably need a craft knife for that.
5. Place the strip around your base and check that it is a good fit. Mark where it overlaps.
6. Put your strip of mount board in water until it is wet (photo 4). Take it out of the water and peel the layers apart where it overlaps (photo 5). Cut away one of the layers from each of the edges where the strip overlaps (photo 6). By doing this you will avoid creating a raised area or bump on the overlap. Keep this overlapped area together using paper clips (photo 7).
7. Use masking tape to hold the outside rim to the base (photo 8).
