Making an Inro

Yesterday my friend Anona challenged me to make an Inro  (google it). Initially I had intended to make one from polymer clay  (Fimo or suchlike). This morning though I was looking in my bathroom drawer when I spotted a small bottle that contained hair conditioner.  This little bottle is from a box of hair dye and has lingered in the drawer for so long now that I had forgotten it was there. My over fertile imagination started to run wild and I decided that i would turn it into,an Inro.   This is my progress so far but it needs to dry now before I can decorate it.  I am planning to Mod Podge it when it has been decorated and is completely dry

Cut the bottle in half

        Cut a strip of plastic from another bottle...

 this one is from a milk carton            

Glue the strip inside the top part of the bottle

Make holes in the top and bottom and then

 place cocktail sticks into the holes to stop them from becoming blocked

Tear up some old envelopes and turn them into paper pulp

I added a paper fastener to the front and back to make sure the plastic strip didn't move

The plastic strip that you glued into the lid allows the two parts to be pushed together

I have used a couple of fimo moulds to make some faces and flowers. I will use these to decorate the Inro when it is completely dry

Close up of the face made from pulped envelopes

I have covered the two parts of the bottle with the paper pulp and it is now sitting in my porch drying in the sunshine.Twist the cocktail sticks carefully so that the paper doesn't stick to them. If you don't do this you run the risk of pulling the paper off the bottle when it is dry............  I will decorate it tomorrow