I originally saw this idea for a bowl made with shredded paper in a book at the library.  I think it was by Patricia Zapata but now I am not sure and I forgot to take notes.  I thought it was pretty cute and stored it in my idea bank to make it one day.  You may know that I have a day job at the airport with Alaska Airlines.  And the other day I was shredding ticket receipts.  Do you remember the old fashioned greenish tickets airlines used to print.  Nowadays they are not used for travel but receipts are printed on that greenish ticket stock when I passenger pays for a piece of luggage or any other extras.  At the end of the night these receipts get shredded and discarded.  Imagine my excitement!  Who knew that my day job at the airport can provide me with craft inspiration.

I got to work after I collected a bag full of shreds.  Just because your day job is not as cool, no reason to worry.  I am sure you get enough junk mail to try your hand at this cool idea too.

I made my own decoupage medium by mixing 3 parts Elmer’s glue and 1 part water.  You can also use Mod Podge or any other decoupage medium.

I lined up a bowl with some plastic (I used a plastic grocery bag).

Then I brushed a good amount of my decoupage medium on to the bowl and layered on some shreds.

I worked a small area at a time.

The shreds were stubborn and wouldn’t lay flat but I managed them a the end.

Once the bowl was completely covered I let it dry. This took a long time (overnight).  I must have used a tad bit more decoupage medium, it was quite wet.

And here you go, a shredded paper bowl!