1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: The only way I know to paper a curved surface would be to cut small slices in the paper, fit it, and then cut out the overlap so it will lay flat. You might just want to paint the inside and then use an eraser to print a design.

Jacqui in Hilo, HI

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: I like Loretta's idea for a wallpaper border at chair rail height for the curved walls of your teapot. You could paint the wall first, leave the top part above the border a plain color, then maybe use several colors to "rag" or sponge on the bottom. Choose one of the colors from the border, and then go several shades lighter so it won't be too bright.

Marilyn - Wisconsin

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: Suggest pre-painting and then apply whimsical decals? Model railroad stores and a few mini shops have a solvent that makes decals more flexible than usual so they may conform to the interesting back shape. If you build false walls, don't lose the in-between space entirely. Paint and "plant" a backdrop on the pot wall and include a window or two in your false wall. Plan ahead so windows align with point of greatest "exterior" depth.

Mel in Vegas

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: Why not just use strips or squares of patterned tissue paper or paper napkins and decoupage them on the teapot walls. The paper is thin and more forgiving than the thicker true wallpaper and would allow you to follow the curves better.It won't be an even, neat lining up like true wallpaper and you will still have wrinkles, but they will be less obvious and it will add some color and a semblance of wallpaper.

Parisa

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: I have to get in on the conversation about papering the inside of a teapot. I have actually done it. In fact, I taught a workshop where we did just that. Now I'm not saying this is the "right" way, but here is what I did. In my case, Mrs. Potts had previously been a bank and her "inside" had various cavities from the form that needed to be hidden. I made a template out of poster board (shirt board). I cut slits down from the top and up from the bottom and pushed that into the hole. Then I marked the overlaps, pulled it out of the teapot and cut out the V's so there were not extra bulges. I refit to make sure I liked the new "interior" wall. The I pulled it out, and applied paper to this. (I actually used a flowery pattern and it didn't look bad.) I then trimmed out some, not all of the paper that went over those V's that I cut out. I left a little to hide the seams. I shoved it back in the pot and pasted down the thin little edges.

Shannon Moore

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: To paper or not to paper: I've been working on a gourd teapot and the round shape has been a challenge. I used wallpaper from a printable site and printed it on cardstock. I dabbed some Goop here and there on the walls, rolled the cardstock into a tube, unrolled it once it was inside and then positioned it. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It looks kind of lopsided to me, but I'm "stuck" with it. Hopefully some furnishings will help.

Jude in ND

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls: There are three options I'd suggest for your teapot walls.  One is to snip thin wedges out of the paper to help it conform to the teapot curves, something like the way tiny 'v'-cuts are made in fabric to help ease it around a curve.  The second is to cut walls from matboard and fit those in place rather than leaving the interior curved.  I think I'd paint the curved walls, then if you want a print you can either paint dots or flowers on them or cut little bitty designs from paper or fabric and glue them in place.

Pam

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  You could use gift wrap tissue paper cut into strips to make a template of the inside of the pot;; it's not too flimsy but light enough to mold along the pot's curves.  Tape strips together till you have a template to cut the good paper. Or, you might want to use a border paper as a chair rail and just paint the walls a solid cover.  Just don't give up!  Keep experimenting and you'll figure it out.

Loretta.Sniarowski

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  If you are set on using wallpaper why don't you build some false walls out of thin foam core. They would be straight and easy to wallpaper. If you want to keep the original curved walls of the teapot try painting the walls then doing a fun stencil. I painted and stenciled all the walls in my dollhouse. It's different from what everyone else does.

René

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  Could you put in a false wall by curving a rectangle of cardboard to fit in the teapot from open edge all the way around to the other open edge, and then wallpaper that?  If your opening isn't too large the cardboard wall could go up high enough so the top edge wasn't seen.  Will you have to put in a false floor because the bottom of the teapot is (1) not level, and/or (2) not big enough?  The wall could then fit neatly around the new floor.  You will probably lose "room" space for your scene with the false wall.  I guess a lot depends on the shape of your teapot!  Love to hear how it works out!

Judy in (middle) TN

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  I think if you really want to wallpaper the inside of your teapot then you should at least give it a try.

- First blow up a balloon inside the teapot until it is nearly the same size.  Seal the balloon and take out of the teapot - this is your "guide".

- Second (it helps here if you have seen a globe - round map of the world - - opened out so it looks like a series of flat bananas ?).  Cut rough paper strips so that at their widest they fit exactly to the curve of the belly of the balloon narrowing as you go to the top and the bottom. Overlap each one slightly.  These paper strips can be trimmed again and again until you get the perfect fit for the balloon.

- Third.  Use the paper strips as wallpaper templates and cut copies from the wallpaper gluing into the walls of the teapot overlapping slightly as you go round.  VOILA!  Patterned paper can't be matched on a curved surface so suggest you use plain and when it's in place stencil small pattern all over.

- Never tried it but remember making papier mache money boxes and masks this way in school (long, long time ago).  You might need to ask this digest for advice on gluing the paper to the ceramic.  Not sure what to suggest.

Karon

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  Jane, what about painting the walls instead of using wallpaper in your 1/4" teapot?  If you want some design, maybe if you cut a narrow strip for a border, you could more easily glue that around the "room".

      I made a 1/4" scene in a paper mache teapot;  didn't like the way some looked when just painted or collaged, so I covered the outside with stucco, making it as smooth as possible when applying it.  Then I sanded it down after it dried completely.  Wanting it to look like a "china teapot", I wanted flowers on it, and instead of trying to paint it myself, I bought some of the rub-on floral pages and I was very pleased with the outcome.  I used gloss varnish on it after all the flowers were in place.  For the inside, I painted the walls with a stucco look, or light textured look by tearing up pieces of Kleenex in little pieces, painting a spot on the wall, picking up the Kleenex piece with my brush and laying it over the wet paint. You have to work with it a little, but after a few times, you will get the knack of it.  It hid all the blemishes the paper mache had and I was pleased with the look when done.

Marjorie in CA

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  If you HAVE to wallpaper, I suggest building a 3 sided box that will fit inside and square things up . Ceramic is NOT good to wallpaper. Measure depth and width inside pot. Cut one long piece of cardboard or fiberboard score at measured depths, wallpaper it. Then bend it and place inside.

LadyBug, Sue Thwaite

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  the only way I know to paper a curved surface would be to cut small slices in the paper, fit it, and then cut out the overlap so it will lay flat.  You might just want to paint the inside and then use an eraser to print a design.

Jacqui in Hilo, HI

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  I like Loretta's idea for a wallpaper border at chair rail height for the curved walls of your teapot. You could paint the wall first, leave the top part above the border a plain color, then maybe use several colors to "rag" or sponge on the bottom. Choose one of the colors from the border, and then go several shades lighter so it won't be too bright.

Marilyn - Wisconsin

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  Suggest prepainting and then apply whimsical decals? Model railroad stores and a few mini shops have a solvent that makes decals more flexible than usual so they may conform to the interesting back shape.  If you build false walls, don't loose the in-between space entirely. Paint and "plant" a backdrop on the pot wall and include a window or two in your false wall. Plan ahead so windows align with point of greatest "exterior" depth.

Mel in Vegas

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  Why not just use strips or squares of patterned tissue paper or paper napkins and decoupage them on the teapot walls.  The paper is thin and more forgiving than the thicker true wallpaper and would allow you to follow the curves better.  It won't be an even, neat lining up like true wallpaper and you will still have wrinkles, but they will be less obvious and it will add some color and a semblance of wallpaper.

Parisa

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  I have to get in on the conversation about papering the inside of a teapot. I have actually done it. In fact, I taught a workshop where we did just that.

Now I'm not saying this is the "right" way but here is what I did. In my case, Mrs. Potts had previously been a bank and her "inside" had various cavities from the form that needed to be hidden.

      I made a template out of poster board (shirt board). I cut slits down from the top and up from the bottom and pushed that into the hole. Then I marked the overlaps, pulled it out of the teapot  and cut out the V's so there were not extra bulges. I refit to make sure I liked the new "interior" wall. The I pulled it out an applied paper to this. (I actually used a flowery pattern and it didn't look bad.) I then trimmed out some, not all of the paper that went over those V's that I cut out.-- I left a little to hide the seams. --I shoved it back in the pot and pasted down the thin little edges.

Shannon Moore

1/4 Scale Teapot Walls:  For anyone needing to cover the inside of a curved surface (like a teapot) who is considering fabric...try turning the fabric 45 degrees...so that it is on the bias of the weave. Then it will stretch and fit itself to a curve.

Terry

Acorn caps: You can wash and scrub off the dirt and then put them in a 250 oven 20 min to 1/2 hr to kill any critters. If you found these on the ground and they are real dirty, they might be too old. After you clean and dry them they should be hard. In the garden club, we always put pine cones, nuts etc. in the oven to kill the critters and keep nuts from germinating (even nuts from the grocery store). I recommend this for bird seed also.

Joanne Offutt