Faux Brick Wall

I love interior brick walls and this is how I made a realistic looking brick wall out of homemade paper clay.

That's right...Paper Clay!!

This is an easy and inexpensive project, but it is very time-consuming!

The final brick wall is paper clay over wallpaper. I tested it for a year first and let me tell ya' it was impossible to get off! My paper clay recipe dries incredibly rock hard and is pretty much indestructible!

The gray color paper clay you see on the wall is made with newspaper, but I found 'toilet paper' paper clay to be easier to work with.

Before doing this over wallpaper, please consider:

-Is my wallpaper in good condition?

-Is my wallpaper easily removed?

-Will adding heavy indestructible paper clay make my wallpaper fall off?

-Why would anybody do this to their wall?

-Does the awesomeness of this project justify the time?

My paper clay recipe is:

-6 rolls of unscented toilet paper

-6.5 cups of wood glue (1.5kg or 3.3lbs)

-1 cup of joint compound (dry wall mix).

You will need

-Large bucket with a lid

-Mixing attachment for your power drill

-Plastic strainer

-Smaller bucket to turn your toilet paper into pulp

I have tried many recipes and this is my favorite. The paper clay also keeps for a long time. I'm currently using clay I mixed last year.This is for one batch of my paper clay.

EDIT: There is no flour in this paper clay. My paper clay recipe is mold resistant. I live in humid Japan and have had no luck with flour based clays. It all depends on the weather where you live.

*There is a risk of mold when using flour.

Here's an easy way to make a batch!

1. Soak one roll of toilet paper at a time in the smaller bucket using warm water. The toilet paper tube will easily come out and the toilet paper will turn to pulp. Break up the pulp with your fingers and then dump it in a plastic strainer. Push as much water out as you can and then put the pulp in the big bucket. Do this for each roll of toilet paper.

2. Add the wood glue and joint compound. (You can also use a glue-all or PPA glue) I live in Japan and wood glue is the cheapest.

3. Mix carefully at first, so the joint compound doesn't fly up in the air. Mix it thoroughly until it becomes paper clay.

*It's better to buy buckets and tools that will only be used for this.

*If the paper clay is too wet, add more paper pulp. If you have the option of buying pure dry pulp, it is definitely better and easier!

My project took:

-21kg of wood glue

-14 cups of joint compound

-147 rolls of toilet paper

For real, I felt totally embarrassed going back to the store to buy toilet paper everyday.

"Ewww, it's that toilet paper dude again!"

Again, this project was time consuming, but easy. I know that there are easier ways to make a faux brick wall, but I wanted to do the entire thing with my hands. I love artistry and the process. It's the best part of every project for me.

Anyway, all you'll need are your hands, a level and a piece of wood.

Start from anywhere by simply pressing paper clay onto the wall. You can always add more in the future even when it's been painted.

I eyeballed the brick sizes and simply pushed the wood into the paper clay while balancing the level on the wood. That is it.

The second picture is how I made the lines. Just find a piece of wood the thickness you want your mortar and wide enough to set a level on and you're golden.

You'll often get clay sticking to the wood. I tried putting painters tape on the end of the wood and it helped a little.

You'll need to be constantly pushing the clay with your fingers. You'll also use your fingers to shape the front of the bricks.

I occasionally rubbed a red whiteboard marker on the painters tape I put on the wood, so it would come off in the clay. This is a good way to keep track of progress on big projects.

The paper clay will take a couple days to dry. Pointing a fan at the clay will help it dry faster.

I painted the bricks with a matte red wine and I mixed my own mortar color. The black color is just diluted black paint and the white is dry brushing.

Tips!

-add a little joint compound to the color you'll paint the bricks. It will give a faux aged look.

-dilute dark colors with water to add faux stains

-use paper cups to hold paint. They're easy to hold when you're moving around a lot and it helps cut down on wasted paint.

-The best way to dry brush is by gently dabbing the tip of a dry paint brush into paint then dab it on a paper towel to remove any excess paint. Gently brush the bricks with the brush.

I mixed up some joint compound and smeared it over the bricks in a couple spots. It looks awesome!

This is one of my next projects! I gave a shiny black wall light a rusty faux finish and put it on the new brick wall.

This vid is from Facebook and it's extra lame!

I threw a circus party a couple months ago and decked out the built-ins with candy.