Put Empty Egg Cartons in a Blender for This Surprisingly Clever Hack

Have you ever felt bad for throwing away your paper egg cartons? Well, stop recycling them and do this instead. For this project, I first tore up the paper egg cartons into pieces and placed them in a big bowl. Once I had enough pieces, I filled the bowl with water and made sure the pieces were submerged, then let the paper soak for 24 hours. After 24 hours of soaking, I added a couple of handfuls of the soaked paper to a rifted blender, along with a little water, and blended it all into a pulp. I used a long straw to move the paper around in order to get everything blended completely. I continued blending until I made it through all the soaked paper. I squeezed out as much of the water as I could from the pulp and placed it in a dry bowl. I added one tablespoon of salt to help avoid mold growth, one tablespoon of mineral oil, one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar, and one fourth cup of PVA glue or school glue. Then I added in two cups of plain all-purpose flour. I mixed it all up with my hands until it came together and formed a ball. Now we have paper clay. I wrapped the paper clay in plastic wrap, then placed it in an airtight bag and stored it in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it. For the first project, I wrapped an old spice jar with plastic wrap, turned it upside down, then started applying the paper clay a little bit at a time until I was happy with the shape. Then I rounded off the edges and used a blunt tool to create vertical lines all around it. Once it was shaped, I allowed it to dry overnight, then removed it from the mold and continued drying it in the oven at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours. Once it was completely dry, I used a sanding block to sand it smooth, then applied two coats of an off-white acrylic paint to the outside only. This little container is now the perfect toothpick holder for my table. For the second project, I lined a ceramic pot I had with plastic wrap, then slowly started adding the paper clay to the inside of the pot. I cut off the top of the clay to make the new pot level on top, then used a skewer to poke holes all around the top edge about an inch down. I allowed the clay to dry overnight, then removed it from the pot and baked it in the oven at 170 degrees for several hours, rotating as needed until it was fully dry. Then I sanded it smooth and used a variety of brown and white paints along with a sponge to paint the outside and inside of the bowl. Now I have a cute little faux terracotta bowl that looks perfect on my outdoor side table. For the final project, I simply rolled the remaining clay I had into balls of various sizes. Once they dried, I started covering them in a variety of materials I had on hand, all from the Dollar Tree. I wrapped a few of the balls in nautical rope, some in twine, and some in dried floral moss. For the last few, I wrapped some gold wire around a ball, then removed the ball leaving the wire. Once everything was finished, I added them to a decorative brass bowl, and now they make the perfect bowl fillers. I hope this tutorial inspired you to recycle some old egg cartons and turn them into something fun and beautiful for your home. Thanks so much for watching Home Talk, and I'll see you next time!