The Thousands

Even though free weekly zine You is in its tenth year and over 500 issues old, creator Luke You is still looking for new ways of packaging his regular letter-style missives. “When I started I just used envelopes”, he says, “but buying hundreds every week was getting way too expensive, so I started using paper bags and stapling them.” His latest method, encasing the zines in papier mâché, perhaps makes it more difficult to open than the previous alternatives, but Luke sees that as an advantage. “I like that it takes effort to actually get into thing, and that you can easily tell which ones have been looked at and which ones are still waiting to be seen.”

The only problem is that, while papier mâché avoids getting numerous paper cuts and making your tongue as dry as sandpaper, it takes an awful lot longer to do than just sealing some envelopes. For that reason, Luke is looking to recruit willing volunteers to help put together the next issue of You. Anyone wanting to be part of this internationally renowned zine can follow these instructions from Luke on how to create the perfect papier mâché effect, but you can even use it to give that authentic handmade touch to your next love letter, postal money order or ransom note.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Find something to actually wrap with papier mâché in the first place. As with most editions of You, Luke is using a photocopier, although you can employ monks to replicate what you’ve written if you prefer.

Step 2: Place your item into a waterproof container, such as a strong bag.

Step 3: In a bucket, bowl, or any other sturdy receptacle, mix together plain white flour and water. Luke recommends using one part flour to eight parts water, although any less than this may not bind the papier mâché together strongly enough.

Step 4: Mix well, as you do not want the resulting paste to be too viscous or lumpy.

Step 5: Dampen torn shreds of newspaper in the resulting gloop and place onto the item. You can use pretty much any sort of paper, although newspaper is ideal as it is tough enough but slightly absorbent. It’s also easy to get hold of as you can often find piles of the stuff left outside CBD train stations.

Step 6: Having repeated the process until you have applied at least three layers of newspaper, leave to dry overnight.

Please be aware that the process is very messy and newspaper should be laid down beforehand. It is also advised to wear old clothes as, although papier mâché paste is easily washable, the stains it leaves look rather unfortunate when dried on.

Step 7: Once the papier mâché has hardened you can write or draw onto it, or as Luke will be doing with these zines, rubber stamping them like so: