If you have difficulty punching a hole through the entire stack, separate the stack into two or three piles and punch the holes into these smaller piles. Just make sure that the holes you punch are evenly placed from stack to stack. If you decide to use decorative or printed paper instead of blank paper or blank cardstock, stack the strips so that the decorative side all faces one direction.
If you are using strips cut from decorative or patterned paper, position each fastener “head” against the decorated side of the paper.
If you’re using decorative paper, remember to have the image face outward.
If you want to hang your sphere, wrap the middle of a piece of thread around one of the metal fasteners. Then wind the thread several times. Knot the ends to form a loop, which you can use to hang it. You can easily flatten the sphere by sliding the paper strips back into a stack.
Start with strips that are 1. 5-inch (3. 8 centimeters) by 3-inch (7. 6 centimeters). You can cut more strips if you’d like a different size. Smaller strips will allow for a smoother surface.
You can adapt the recipe to change the quantity by maintaining a ratio of 2 parts school glue and 1 part water. You will need to make more papier-mâché paste as you work on your sphere.
Your hands will get covered in glue while you work on this project, so keep a towel handy to wipe off the drying excess glue.
Keep your balloon in place by sitting it in a bowl while you work. This will prevent the balloon from rolling or slipping away.
To keep track of your layers, it’s a good idea to use different types of paper for each layer. [7] X Research source
Alternatively, you could just remove the end of the balloon. Once the sphere is done, you can paint it or use glue to add embellishments.
If you draw your own, make a template with each side measuring 2 inches (5 centimeters). If you want a different size sphere, change the size of your geometric shapes, making sure that all the sides are equal in length.
You will use a total of one pentagon for this step and five hexagons. The edges of the hexagons and pentagon must be side by side without any gap in between them. The sides should not overlap. If you don’t have tape, you can glue on a connector piece. Use a 1-inch x 2-inch slip of paper as your connector. Add a thin strip of glue along each side of the paper, then attach it to the geometric steps.
Each pentagon used in this step will lie adjacent to two different hexagons. Make sure that you tape both connecting edges in place.
Each hexagon used in this step will lie adjacent to three other edges in the structure. Tape all three edges down. Your sphere will be half complete.
During this step, you should notice the sphere beginning to curve inward. You are completing the closed top portion now.
This time, each pentagon will have three edges that lie adjacent to other edges in the structure. Tape all three down.
The hexagons you just added will have edges that touch each other, so you will want to tape these down, too.
