Do-it-yourself recipe for paste-up, découpage and papier mâché glue

The original recipe was kindly shared with me by the artist Barek, for paste-ups. Over time, I have modified the recipe a bit to hopefully make a stronger, more water resistant glue.

Save those squeezy tomato sauce bottles – you can mix batches of the glue which will last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Make sure you leave the bottles out for a bit to go back to room temperature and give them a good shake before application.

This recipe is great for paste-ups, papier mâché and découpage. Takes about an hour to cook up, and cool down enough to be useable.

When stored in the fridge, it lasts for about a fortnight. It’ll start to grow a green mould skin across the top after that.

The Recipe

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornflour

4 and 3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup PVA glue

1. Boil 3 cups of the water.
2. Mix all the flours and the rest of the water until the lumps are dissolved.
3. Once the water has boiled, add the water/flour mix and stir for 3 minutes, keeping an eye on the mix continually to avoid foaming. This cooks the flour; you will notice that the mix tastes and smells less ‘flour-y’ as the cooking progresses.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar, one third at a time.
5. Leave to cool, stirring periodically to avoid a skin forming.
6. Stir in the PVA after the liquid cools down, making sure it is well mixed throughout.

I’ve found it’s a good idea to label and date the batch too. Especially good if you have multiple batches going, or bottles of actual tomato sauce in your fridge.

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How to crochet a pair of earmuffs (parts one, two and three)

How to cut and stitch a wrap from a blanket

Barek’s art and DIY aesthetic is a constant inspiration and encouragement. Find him here.