We will need:
- newspapers;
- a thin culinary skewer or knitting needle;
- PVA glue;
- a pot (as a basis for your weaving);
- thick cardboard for the bottom;
- scissors or stationery knife;
- clothespins;
- acrylic paints or gouache and brush;
- alkyd varnish and brush.
Let's get started with the creative process:
1. The first task is to prepare shelves of paper for future tubes. Unfold the newspaper and cut it into strips of 10-12 cm.
You will need a lot of tubes (for a pot like the one in the photo, about 80-90 tubes were needed), so prepare a large number of strips of paper in advance.
2. We begin to make tubes. Place one piece of newspaper in front of you and a thin knitting needle or skewer on its corner. The newspaper and skewer should form an acute angle, as shown in the photo.
And then begin to gradually roll the newspaper into a tube, pressing it tightly against the table so that it becomes thin and dense.
When a small corner of the paper remains, grease it with glue and glue it to the tube.
The tube is ready, all that remains is to carefully remove the skewer (or knitting needle) from it.
3. Take thick cardboard and cut out the bottom of the future pot from it. Use a knife or scissors to make holes near the edge. The holes should be placed at equal distances from each other.
4. Insert the tubes into the holes in the cardboard and bend a 3-4 cm piece outwards.
5. When the tubes are inserted into all the holes in the bottom, take another tube and bend it exactly in half. Lifting the tubes bent and attached to the bottom, we braid them in a figure eight.
We connect the outer and inner parts of the vertical tubes. When the entire first row has been braided in this way, you need to take the pot and place it in the center of the resulting circle of tubes. The pot will serve as a base for weaving and will help you weave it evenly and neatly. For convenience, we attach the vertical tubes with clothespins to the walls of the pot.
6. We weave the second row according to the same principle as the first.
When the tube you are weaving runs out, you need to take a new tube and insert it into the one that ends. Each tube always has one end slightly thinner than the other. So you can easily connect two tubes by inserting the thin side into the thick one and continue working. During the weaving process, the clothespins can be removed, since the tubes will already be tightly attached to each other.
7. When the wicker pot reaches the required height, the mold can be removed. Horizontal tubes need to be cut and hidden in the weaving, securing them with glue.
8. Now you need to complete the top of the pot. To do this, take one vertical stick and, wrapping it around the back of the next one, lower it down.
Continue this operation with all the tubes.
9. Insert the tube into the hole in front, that is, into the hole that was formed in front of the next stick. Repeat the action until all the tubes are directed inside the product.
10. Trim the ends of the tubes; they should be no more than 2-3 cm. Glue the tip of the tube to the inside of the pot and secure it with a clothespin. Secure all the tubes.
11. The product will dry completely in a couple of hours.
12. You can start painting.
13. If you use this pot as decor for indoor flowers, and you plan to water this flower, we recommend covering the finished product with alkyd varnish.
14. Once dry, insert your favorite flower in a plastic pot into the wicker pot! All is ready!
