TITLE:

MAKING A PLATE USING A PAPER MACHE

PRESENTED BY: SAMMY KIBIWOT

INDEX: 5781011943

COURSE CODE:2802

COURSE: CERTIFICATE IN FOOD AND BEVERAGE

SUPERVISOR: MR. OTIENO

CENTRE: THE ELDORET NATIONAL POLYTECHNIC

PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATION

COUNCIL IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REWARD OF
CERTIFICATE IN FOOD AND BEVERAGE

SERIES: AUGUST 2021

DECLARATION

I declare that this research project is my original work and to the best of my knowledge. It has
not been submitted to any other college or institution for academic credit.

PRESENTED BY: SAMMY KIBIWOT

Signed: ……………………………. Date: ………………………

This research project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the college
supervisor.

SUPERVISORS’ NAME: MR. OTIENO

Signed: ……………………………. Date: ………………………

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DEDICATION

A special dedication to my parents who nurtured me since I was young, for their material and
emotional support and my friends. May this study inspire you to aim even higher in your
education and be all that you were ordained by God to be.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to give thanks to the Almighty for many blessings upon my life and through his
grace I have been able to study and complete this course successfully.

My special appreciation goes to my trainers for having supported me to come up with such an
idea. They have brought me since I started my course, the concept would not have grown to
become a project.

I want to appreciate my family also for having taught me from an early age the virtues of honesty
and hard work diligence, sacrifice and perseverance.

My gratitude also goes to my friends and respondents who were very supportive in enabling me
collect information relevant to this study.

May the Almighty God Bless you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION..............................................................................................................................i

DEDICATION................................................................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................iii

ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................v

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................1

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION..........................................................................................1

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT........................................................................................................2

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY.................................................................................................2

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS..................................................................................................2

CHAPTER TWO.......................................................................................................................3

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................................3

CHAPTER THREE: METHODLOGY...................................................................................5

3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN...............................................................................................................5

3.1 MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT’S USED............................................................................5

3.2 PROCEDURE.......................................................................................................................6

3.3 METHOD OF MAKING A PLATE USING PAPER MACHE..........................................7

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS..............................................................................................10

4.1 RECOMMENDATION...........................................................................................................10

4.2 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................10

REFERENCE................................................................................................................................11

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ABSTRACT
In Kenya, newspaper has become a daily part of our lives, as many people grabs a copy daily.
The statistics indicate that the newspapers are collected daily and resold to recycling companies
yet the problem still persists. The newspaper waste is caused by human activities which pollutes
our environment. It is by this that the researchers seek to recycle the newspapers by designing
them and producing a decorative paper mache plate.

The objective of the study was to find out whether the magazine waste materials could be
recycled and can be endlessly reprocessed with no loss of quality, helping to conserve the
environment. The method employed were the assemblage of plate using paper mache, and all the
required materials from The Eldoret National Polytechnic and its environs.

The findings of the study reveals that the paper mache plates are very portable and strong. Its
recommended that people can practice this mode of recycling the newspapers to foster in the
development of skills and decoratives.

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 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Paper is one of the oldest-man-made materials. Thousands of years ago Egyptians first made

paper using papyrus, a plant found along the banks of the Nile River. To make papyrus paper, the

bark was peeled off the stalks and the inside of the stem, the pith, was removed and cut into

strips. Then these strips were layered in a criss-cross pattern, pounded, pressed and dried. These

sheets were then smoothed out and glued together into long rolls, known as scrolls. This was a

lengthy process, and as a result, paper was very valuable. Over time, paper has been made from

mulberry bark, hemp, cotton and linen rags, wheat and oat stalks and of course wood pulp. Some

is made from recycled paper; almost all paper can be reused to make a variety of new paper

products like cereal boxes, tissues, paperboard and newsprint.

Papier mâché is a French phrase meaning ‘chewed paper’. It is the process of using paper and

glue to make a strong, stiff material. It is easy to do, and is another way to reuse paper. Papier

mâché can be made in two ways – one in which paper is torn in strips pasted in layers and the

other where the paper is mashed to a pulp and mixed with paste. Strip papier mâché is used to

cover an existing surface, making hollow and flat pieces like piñatas and masks. Pulp papier

mâché, on the other hand, is most often used to create moulded or sculpted pieces. In some cases,

this papier mâché is applied to armature or form made out of wire, aluminium foil or cardboard,

or it is casted or moulded to make decorations and sculptures. Newspaper or newsprint is the

ideal material for both techniques. It is abundant, readily available and easy to tear. As most

papier mâché projects are painted, colour of the paper used does not matter.

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1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Paper is a common item in our garbage. Statistics Canada estimates that we use six million

tonnes of paper and paperboard annually. Only one-quarter of Kenya’s waste paper and

paperboard is recycled and nine out of ten newspapers sold are thrown away instead of recycled!

As many as 17 trees are required to make one ton of paper, but every ton of recycled paper saves

almost 400 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill and seventeen trees. It pays to recycle!

Paper is also a great material for making treasures. By the end of this unit, you will never look at

discarded paper and cardboard in the same way again.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To utilize the available raw materials using the magazine waste as paper mache for
making plate.
 To conserve the environment.
 Enhance the use of paper mache plate.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How can we utilize the available raw materials using the waste as paper mache for
making plate?
 How can we conserve the environment?
 How can we enhance the use of paper mache plate?

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 CHAPTER TWO

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Papier mache is categorized under the naïve art. Naive art is associated with art or artist whose

creative abilities are limited with inexperienced expressions. Sometimes these expressions are

done consciously and unconsciously because of the short time at which such expressions are

being created as a form of art. Some experienced artists have the ability to try their hands

creatively to imitate an inexperienced artist’s works. Such innovations are done because of how

naive art have inspired them technically. The experienced artist considers naive art as worth

viewing because it makes the onlooker spend some time and have some kind of interest in

looking at the work whiles contemplating on the message it wants to carry across.

Moreover, an experienced artist can be classified as naive at a time when he or she moves to a

different environment where the philosophy, style or technique used are new to him and he or

she decides to work or learn within such environment which might be very different from what

he already knows about. There may also be some people who also pass through academic

training for four years and would still not be able to transfer what is learnt through what is

created especially with the use of proportions, form and techniques. Such a work brings the

experienced artist’s mind on board to reflect back the potential naive artist he was sometime ago,

so does the naive artist who is not able to translate what is in his mind through creating a

potential artist on his or her own.

Does the inability of trained artist who is unable to transfer what he learned into creating his

works mean a deficiency of mind? Observations and studies gathered about why these happen

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bring to the bare, the formation on the mental life of such artist and human beings in general as

to how they conceive things within and decide to transfer it through creativity to reality.

Primitive art was accepted as art during the 20 th century. It served as monetary value and source

of inspiration during the first half of it to many avant-garde artists and as a source of pleasure to

avant-garde collectors. The interest in primitive art grew highly because it entered the

mainstream of established art by mid-century. This form of art possessed some sort of crude and

simple construction techniques which was perceived by an experienced artist. Otherwise the

already accepted art forms view it as a form of offensive art in a way. But later it became source

of reference to a lot of people and this created the awareness for public acceptance. Although

such works were not restricted with art principles and element which makes creation of art so

rigid to those who are not familiar with it. It help grow the selling of such works in galleries, it

flourished with curatorial interest whiles enhancing scholarly interest for more new studies about

it to be made known. So in 1984, primitive art seemed to have reached its peak of acceptance and

validation. Art in the winter of 1984 revealed that the notion “Primitive Art” and the

valourisation of what was pronounced to be "authentic" primitive art by various authorities, had

become far more controversial than the casual admirer of primitive art might have imagined.

Most critiques focused on re-examining the issue of authenticity, disputing the notion that

authentic primitive people live as they have lived for centuries, untouched by western civilization

or history. The idea that authentic primitive art consists of objects made by "untouched" cultures

for their own uses rather than for sale to "outsiders" and that these objects are pure in their form

and content, uncontaminated by western influence. Among the infinitude of objects considered

both "authentic" and "primitive," only some of them were selected as "art" objects, their

legitimacy institutionalized, and their monetary value as art established. These artefacts began

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their existences as many different things from ceremonial clubs to ancestral effigies, from door

lintels to bowls.

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 CHAPTER THREE: METHODLOGY.

3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design holds all the elements in research project together. It constitutes o the

elements, measurable ad analysis of data. The study adapted is descriptive research. The design

is more than just collection of data, it also involves, measurements, classification, analysis,

comparison and interpretation of data. The results from descriptive research helped the research

to capture the interest. This information when acquired helped to design a plate using papier

mache

3.1 MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT’S USED

Equipment Materials
 Scissors  Office glue

 Brush  Old Magazine

 Plate to use as a mould.  Flour

 Masking Tape

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3.2 PROCEDURE.

STEP 1: Cut or tear paper into strips about 50 mm long x 25 mm wide (2 x 1 inches). These

pieces can be smaller for items with fine detail and bigger for large areas.

STEP 2: Brush paste evenly and sparingly onto the strips of paper.

STEP 3: Apply paper to base, overlapping pieces slightly and smoothing with your fingers to

remove any air bubbles.

STEP 4: Complete one layer at a time. Note that most projects need five layers.

STEP 5: When applying more layers, make sure to push out any air bubbles that might be

trapped between the layers.

STEP 6: Let your object dry naturally in an even heat.

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3.3 METHOD OF MAKING A PLATE USING PAPER MACHE

Figure 1: Cut or tear paper into strips about 50 mm long x 25 mm wide (2 x 1 inches).

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Figure 2: Apply paper to base, overlapping pieces slightly and smoothing with your fingers to
remove any air bubbles.

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Figure 3: Complete one layer at a time and Let your object dry naturally in an even heat..

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 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS

4.1 RECOMMENDATION
Most people seem to use these plates as decorations especially the Anthropologie ones. Not me

though, I eat off them and use them every day. I know it may sound ridiculous but I think food

tastes better off a fancy plate. I’m also very much of the thinking that if you have lovely things,

then enjoy them rather than saving them for special occasions.

That is why I decided to make my own large paper mache bowl and decorate it . This

decoupaged paper mache bowl can be used as a bread or fruit bowl to sit on the table.

4.2 CONCLUSION
Plate made from paper mache is cheaper than most plates relatively low risk way of investing in
a business.

Plates are critical to the financial health of a foodservice operation and serve as a “driver” of the

business. Their importance to a successful foodservice operation cannot be overstated.

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REFERENCE

Bodjawah M.F.A. (2001) Cold cast-metal relief Sculpture, Department of Painting and
Sculpture, KNUST. (Unpublished).

A. Voronkov, Easy chair conference system, Internet Website, last accessed, March 2011.,
available from http://www.easychair.org.

Sustainable Recycling Solutions: Recycling Facts. MRC Polymers. 2013.

http://www.mrcpolymers.com/PlasticRecyclingFacts.php

Gibson, Ray. 1995. The Usborne Book of Papier Mache. Usborne Publishing, London, England.

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