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Papier-Mâché Llama

Total Time Needed:: Weekend Projects

Cathleen Smallwood, an art teacher at Fairview Elementary School in Covington, Georgia, has her third graders spend an entire year making these spectacular llamas. It's a bona fide immersion process. The class learns all about South American culture, and even visits llamas at a farm.

Now, not everyone, obviously, can commit a year (!) to a learning experience like this. Cathleen understands, and has graciously offered our readers a clear, workable set of step-by-step instructions for crafting the creatures. How long, then, will it take to make a llama as beautiful as the ones created by the lucky third graders at Fairview Elementary? A mere day (okay, plus drying time). As Cathleen says, "I hope to teach stick-to-it-iveness and the value of the handmade." This project teaches both in spades.

Materials

17 craft sticks
2 rolls of masking tape
1 roll of paper towels
White glue
2 large paper clips
Papier-Mâché Llama Paste
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of white glue
1/2 cup of Future Floor Finish
2 tablespoons of salt

White tempera paint
Black tempera paint
Medium paintbrush
Small paintbrush or cotton swab
1 bag of fiberfill
Plastic fork
Scissors
Decorations such as different-colored yarn, string, tassels
1 square (at least 5- by 5-inch) pot-holder (optional)
2 squares (about 5- by 5-inch) of burlap

Instructions

1. Build the frame of the llama using craft sticks, which you link and then bind together with masking tape, as shown. Use 2 craft sticks to form the body and 2 to form the neck. Use 1 broken craft stick, shaped into a V, to form the triangle for the head. Overlap the sticks slightly and wind each overlap with tape.
Wrap the entire structure with masking tape for strength, as shown.
3. Build up the taped structure three-dimensionally by wrapping it with paper towels spread with white glue, as shown. First, lay paper towels on a table and spiral glue over the surface of each. Then drape the gluey paper towels over and around the llama in neat layers. Use strips of paper towel around the head and full sheets for the neck and body. Taper the neck so it's thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top.
4. Wrap the entire llama with masking tape to create a smooth outer surface, as shown. The gluey paper towels will dry inside the tape, creating a harder, stronger structure.
5. Build 4 legs, using 3 craft sticks for each. Overlap 2 craft sticks, tape the overlap, then tape an extra stick to the center of each leg for strength, as shown. Wrap each leg in gluey paper towels, slightly tapering the foot end, as shown. Then wrap each leg in tape for a smooth outer surface.
6. Attach the legs to the body, with the tapered end pointing down, applying three 3-inch pieces of tape horizontally across the top of each leg where it meets the body, as shown. The front legs should slant forward slightly, and back legs should slant backward slightly.
7. Strengthen the attached legs and the body structure by winding tape vertically over the ends of the 3-inch horizontal pieces of tape, as shown, until the structure feels secure.
8. Create 2 ears for the llama using 2 large paper clips. Bend the outer wire down straight and wrap each paper clip with tape, as shown. Attach the skinny end to the head with tape.
9. Setting the structure aside, make the papier-m�ch� in a large bowl. Mix together all of the ingredients, then stir in water until the paste is the consistency of cake batter
10. Apply the papier-m�ch� to the entire structure by dipping strips of paper towel into the paste and wrapping each body part with the strips, winding them around the structure just as you did the masking tape, as shown. Allow the structure to dry overnight.
11. Use the medium paintbrush to paint the whole llama with white tempera paint. Let dry. Use the small paintbrush or cotton swab and black tempera paint for facial details and to mark off the hooves. Let dry.
12. To make the fur, stretch and tease the fiberfill and set the fluff aside. Using your finger and confining yourself to one area at a time, thickly spread white glue over the body, neck, and about halfway down the legs. Now drape and press the fiberfill over all the glued areas, working from the bottom up, as shown. Let dry.
Comb the fur down gently, using a plastic fork. Trim the fur with the scissors where needed.
14. Decorate your llama using colorful yarn, string, and tassels. Begin by making the reins: braid together different-colored yarns to create a strand that measures about 2 feet long, making a knot at the end to form a circle. Loop the end (without the knot) over the ears and under chin. Affix the face reins to the head with a few drops of glue, to keep them in place. Arrange the reins so they hang off the llama's neck down to the bottom of the llama's chest, and pull the rest of the reins to rest on the llama's back, using a few drops of glue here to fix the reins in place (they will be covered by the blanket, too.) Use string or yarn to tie the tassels onto the reins. (Tip: to save time, you can buy ready-made tassels at craft stores.).
15. Now you're ready to make the blanket. Cathleen suggests weaving together different colored yarn strands for the llama's blanket, cross hatching the yarn with string, and then gluing the completed blanket over the llama's back. (Or you can go the easier route of simply gluing a small colorful potholder across the llama's back).
16. To make the saddlebags, cut squares of burlap, form the sides into a bag shape, and stuff each bag with crumpled paper towel strips to fill it out, then cinch each bag at the top with a rubber band and a piece of string. Now glue the bags to the blanket, so they lay on top of the llama's back.