Wednesday, 12 March 2014 by Irene Hoofs

When I was born my mum gave all relatives and friends a birth present with some chocolates. To present the chocolates my grandmother crocheted more

than a hundred doilies and made bowls with it using a sugar-water technique.

I still love doilies so much and of course you saw plenty of DIY on the internet with the vintage crocheted doilies, but as I can’t find them in Zimbabwe I was looking for an alternative.

So I thought let’s try the papier mâché technique on the paper doilies, and yes….the paper version you can find here in Africa without any problem and I liked the result, hope you’ll like it too!

DIY paper doily bowl.

what you'll need:
*white PVA glue
*brush
*bowl
*water
*paper doilies
*balloon (waterbomb)
*glass
*newspaper/tablecloth

Step 1:
Protect your work surface with some newspaper or use a tablecloth

Step 2:
Blow up your balloon. Depending on the size of your doily you can use a normal-sized balloon or the smaller waterbomb balloons.

Step 3:
Make the papier mâché. You’ll find lot’s of versions on the internet, but this one is very easy and worked very well.

Mix In a bowl 2/3 white PVA glue and 1/3 water.

Step 4:
Soak the doilies in the papier mâché paste. Layer the doily on your balloon.

I tested a variety of doilies and the best result you’ll get with the thicker doilies often coated with gold or silver.

Step 5:
Let it dry. It can take 24 hours, so be patient.

Step 6:
Pop the balloon. It's possible that you need to shape your bowl a little bit.