Papier mâché after a fashion critter

A critter made of something like papier mache but not quite. Its just scrunched, well wetted, ,soaked, and formed/modeled newspaper. It dried a few days. The head/neck is not well attached but stays in there because the body dried up around it. I had to keep the whole creature on its side to dry, with the head resting a bit higher. There is no glue in this! It is an experiment. I love it though.

So this was prompted by thoughts from the other day:



...It just came to me why I have not been doing Paper Mache in so long. I need a big paint bucket. There is a way to make great pulp without precutting or tearing the paper. Just put whole sheets into a bucket of hot water and swish it around. Its been a while so I dont remember whether i soaked first or not. I think if you swish around while water is hot it falls apart faster. May have to change it a few times. I dont remember that either. (this is all my own discovery and Ive never seen it mentioned anywhere...) And then you pull the mess out and model a bit with it. Maybe strain too. but you can even get away without glue. Problem is the bucket is only good for this purpose from then on because all that printing ink gums up on the bucket. I think it comes out like the egg carton material. It is more like making paper. I had kids making good size easter eggs one year. Needs a good drying place because of its thickness. Now I must get myself a bucket!