Not your Mommas Paper Mache

Monday I went to a mela (aka: a bunch of vendors selling their goods in the parking lot) and I saw a vendor with all of these beautifully hand-painted bowls, boxes, vases and Christmas ornaments. What I didn't know then, was that everything he sells is made out of paper mache. I couldn't believe it so I had the guy come to my house yesterday to check things out close up, plus I wanted to buy Christmas ornaments from him.
So he came and I invited the neighbors to come and see and I was amazed at the incredible detail work on every single item I looked at.
Most of the bowls are made from a brass mold (so the inside is gold). What they do next is layer the outside with the paper pulp, then varnish, paint, varnish, varnish, varnish and then varnish one more time. He said that with good care these items can last a life-time.
They varnish them 4 times, waiting 15 days between each coat. Some of the bigger items take several months just to paint, that doesn't include the varnishing time. They even make their own paint brushes because they can't buy brushes that are fine enough for the most detailed artwork.
The more I looked the more I wanted. Before I knew how incredible they were I just thought I wanted a few ornaments, now I want to buy one of everything and a whole Christmas tree full of ornaments.
I looked through his picture album and he can make just about anything you can imagine and it is all amazing!
The price isn't bad either. Some of the items I bought yesterday I paid about a dollar an item, (for an average size ornament) in the states that same item could range anywhere from $5-$10. But these are the smaller items I am talking about. The bigger items.. bowls and boxes and things range from around $12-$100 or higher.
No two items are ever alike. Each piece, even if its the same bowl, painted with the same pattern, is never identical because its all hand-made. Another bonus is that it is very lite and so if you want me to send you something the shipping shouldn't be too outrageous. :)
Anyway, you can tell I think its.. well, WAY COOL!

This bowl was one of my favs!


And this was one of my favorite boxes!


I really liked this one too..

The animals were really cool too. He had elephants, camels, and turtles whos shells were the lids for a round turtle box.

Tried to get a close-up of the detail work but I don't think the picture does it justice.

FYI: I've only recieved 2 comments all month--where are all my loyal fans? (Boo-hoo) :)