Posted on 6 Comments

FAIL: Homemade Paperclay Disaster

I haven’t done any personal blogging here on Craft Thyme and think it will likely be a rare occasion because I want to keep the topics relevant and craft oriented.  However, a little behind the scenes sometimes puts crafting in context and honestly this crafting fail was too good not to share.

While there are a lot of abandoned projects that just don’t make it up to par, usually, when I am building on the tutorials of other sites they turn out alright.  Or hell they at least turn out…  And since I am being personal there are a lot of projects that just require too much time.  I work outside the home and I have two children ages 3 and 1.  Let me repeat that: two boys ages 3 and 1.  Not close to 4 and 2…  We got a barely potty trained and a crawler.  I’m surprised I remember my name and that is often why things don’t reach fruition.

Back to the Point (If there is one to this post):

I should have known something was desperately wrong when the first ingredient was an entire roll of toilet paper.  Have you ever actually seen how much paper is on a roll?

Well you have now.  Thats a whole lotta TP in front of a blender.
Well you have now. That’s a whole lotta TP in front of a blender.  Though I am digging my new photo setup I am working on so I can do tutorials at night. :)

I have probably sealed my fate by allowing the boys to help remove the toilet paper from the roll.  I did at least have sense enough to take the roll away from the bathroom so as not to reinforce removing paper from the regular area.

Pulling copious amounts of toilet paper off the roll.  Every child's dream!
Pulling copious amounts of toilet paper off the roll. Every child’s dream!

It was only downhill from there…

Plaster the Second Issue:

I worked with plaster throughout art school.  I know it has a short set up time, thin consistency, and works best for smoothing and casting.  Why I thought its properties would suddenly transform with the addition of toilet paper and glue, I will never know.  I mean toilet paper is magical…  So it made a little sense at the time.

The Final Fail:

The first time, the plaster set up too fast, the second time it was liquid then the plaster set up too fast.  Sensing a theme?  If there had been a third time I would have been insane.  I am still removing tiny bits of plaster-coated TP from under my nails as I type this.  And let me tell you there is an undesirable ick factor to a bucket of wet toilet paper.  And since this is “nice” blog we won’t discuss what wet toilet paper looks like ground up, and then splattered down your front.  Feel free to discover that gem on your own.

Plus it makes a huge freaking mess.
Plus it makes a huge freaking mess.

I adore Twigg Studios and regularly follow their blog, but honestly, in this particular case she must have some kind of plaster voodoo to have achieved this light, smooth, and airy texture.  Possible sanded the shit out of it was Patrick’s (My Husband’s) suggestion.  I found a similar recipe using joint compound, but now having worked with the texture of the mix I think that this might be a DIY that requires a commercial product.

All I can say is my faux barnacles did not equal her sea urchin or barnacle tutorial inspired by Design Sponge.

Take a guess which one I created?  The lump on the left?
Take a guess which one I created? The lump on the left?

Anyway, I’m off to order some real paper clay and take a stab at making these in a different way. That way I can get back to crafting and not craft-failing.

Enjoy these articles?  Get periodic updates by joining my mailing list (no spam, no way, no how) or subscribing to my RSS feed.

See more great crafts and decor at these link parties: Cherished Bliss, Crafty Confessions, The Gunny Sack Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

6 thoughts on “FAIL: Homemade Paperclay Disaster

  1. My husband and I recently made 2- 7 ft. Oscar statues using the paperclay joint compound recipe! It was awesome. It was no time before my husband, who is also an awesome baker, was able to roll it out like dough and place it on the statue. It was so easy to mold and dried as hard as a rock. We gesso’d it and spray painted them gold. They were the hit of the Oscars Party. So I’d say go ahead and try the joint compound paperclay. It’s the bomb!

    1. Hmmm… Okay perhaps the joint compound, which dries slower, may need a second look. Thanks for letting me know. Maybe I’ll give it a try next time I am by the hardware store. Appreciate you taking the time to comment.

  2. Haha! I love these craft fails, only because I have a few of my own now. I keep meaning to share mine. Pinning it to my fail board.

    1. You have an entire fail board? I’m going to have to track you down on pinterest.

  3. Haha! Oh, man. This makes me feel like I’m NOT insane for regularly posting my craft fails :) It was a valiant attempt. Thanks for sharing.

    1. I got a good chuckle at “valiant attempt”.

'Do' Leave Us a Comment