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I want to thank everyone who offered suggestions! I really appreciate it
although I haven't had a chance to thank each one of you personally. I
printed off copies of your emails and gave them to the art teacher today.
She's going to review and let me know what she thinks will work best. I
offered to purchase the alternative ingredients she would need. Below are
the recommendations:
1. Blick's Mix Instant Papier Mache at www.dickblick.com
2. Claycrete Instant Papier Mache. Can be purchased at JoAnn's. If you use
the weekly 40% off coupon, the price for a one pound bag is about $3.30.
3. You can make the paste at home and bring it to class after it is cooled.
Boiling some rice flour with a little tapioca in some water makes a great
paste. Actually it works better than wheat starch based paste. Rice flour is
what the artists tend to use.
Adding some Elmer's glue to the rice/water paste makes it even stronger and
nicer. You can buy Elmer's (or some similar brand) cheaply by the gallon at
hardware stores.
You can also buy "laundry starch" which is premade. That's actually what we
used when I was a kid. It's made from corn starch.
Adding some essential oil to the paste can keep bugs from eating your
creations too. Salt keeps it from molding.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/how_to_paper_mache.htm has some good hints.
==================================
Try this easy paper mache paste recipe:
- Take 1 heaped soup ladle of powdered cornstarch
- Place in a heat proof bowl
- Add enough COLD water to form a paste and to dissolve powder to
consistency of thick cream.
- Pour in one kettleful (1.7 litres) of RAPIDLY BOILING (MUST be
bubbling away...) and stir like crazy...!
It is very very HOT like porridge and it can form lumps so I usually give it
a whisk or beating with my electric mixer to smooth it. Paste should change
from opaque white to translucent once the boiling water is added. It will
keep a few days and can be microwaved to be heated so it's less
"jelly-like". Kids love to use it while it's warm, but it works equally well
cold.
Salt can be added to prolong shelf life."
4. I don't recommend that your son work with the papier mache, gloves or
not. Our daughter, age 23, had a bad reaction to gluten just baking wheat
cookies without eating them. It would be very hard to manage a child with
gloves to avoid problems, and the other kids will spread the stuff on a lot
of things he will later touch. Unless the teacher enjoys super cleaning
doorknobs, water fountains, desks, books, you get the idea. There are other
materials that are gluten free that you will probably get recipes for and
the whole class can use.
5. Suggestion from a viewer...
"I use Elmer's art paste as my 'glue' for papier mache--it costs less than
$3 for a small box that will mix up to a gallon of paste--and it lasts a
long time. Not only that, but projects won't get eaten by bugs (this can
happen when using flour or cornstarch pastes)! Last of all, for less than
$9, I can buy several cubic feet of loose cellulose insulation (shredded
paper) from most hardware stores (that you can also mix with art paste to
your liking)--this will give you enough medium to last for quite awhile
(even years) including in classroom situations, depending upon how often you
use it. To use this last, build your basic armature, cover with a few layers
of paper, then apply cellulose/art paste medium in several coats; allow to
dry between coats. You may choose to end with paper for a different finish.
This is fun to sculpt and experiment with."
6. Hereš what I gleaned off delphiforums:
I've used liquid starch for paper mache and there's a recipe in Danna Korn's
book, Kids With Celiac Disease. The recipe calls for 2 cups of any gf
flour/mix, 2 teaspoons xanathan gum, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/4 cup white
glue.
I use to use Stayflo Liquid Starch to do papier mache projects with my
students. I'm not sure if it is gluten free or not, but it is much less
messy than the flour mixture and it easily wipes off of most surfaces. I
might suggest you look to see if it is a safe product.
I can assure you that liquid starch method is nearly as messy as flour/glue
but the preparation is much easier on the teacher.
Paper mache and wallpaper paste and that smelly paste we used to use in
school (that some kids liked to eat!) contain wheat flour.
Here are some wheat-free alternatives to traditional paper mache:
a.. Make your own paper mache with this recipe from Planet Pals:
Ingredients: Glue, water, paper
Directions:
Mix two parts white glue with one part warm water. Stir well and the Paste
is ready to use. Now you need paper-newspaper works well! Dip each piece of
paper in the liquid mixture and apply it one piece at a time to form your
shapes.
b.. Claycrete Instant Papier Mache - made from 100% pure paper pulp, you
mix with water and knead it and model it.
7. This is the papier mache recipe given to me by a dietician; It looks like
it might have been copied out of Dana Korn's book. I haven't tried it yet,
but made a plan with staff to prepare a batch for my son to share with all
the kids at his art table when they do papier mache later in the year.
Papier Mache Pulp
2 cups gluten-free flour (any mix will do)
2 tsp xanthan gum (available from any health food store)
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white glue
Mix ingredients thoroughly, adding the flour, xanthan gum, and glue to the
water a little at a time. Stir the mixture frequently with a wire coat
hanger or whisk. The objective is to get a smooth, even mixture with no
lumps or air bubbles. Tear newspaper into long, thin strips. Dip the paper
into the pulp mixture above and scrape the excess off with your fingers.
Layer the pulp-covered strips onto your project.
8. Wouldn't rice flour work for your sons project? Rice is quite sticky and
very inexpensive. Try and asian market and buy a bag of sticky rice and give
it a try at home. I think it will cost less or the same as wheat flour.
Just a thought.
*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*
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