Unique passe-partout

Last year, my friend visited the land of the pharaohs, Egypt, and, as expected, brought a souvenir - a decorative papyrus with images of Tutankhamun, Cleopatra and Nefertiti. Everything is very beautiful, one “but” - it’s just a piece of papyrus and fitting it somewhere turned out to be a real problem. After a long rest on the shelf, I decided to give the gift some thought. Bamboo would naturally fit such an image, but where can you get it? In construction stores they are sold only in bunches, and this is not a cheap pleasure. I didn’t rack my brains for long and looked on the Internet. The proposal to make bamboo from cardboard rolls (from cling film, for example, or from foil, parchment paper) also did not please me, because, as a rule, you always throw away all this treasure, but in vain. And so, with these thoughts, I was looking for a way out. One day I was walking past a trash can (no need to laugh) and saw an ordinary plastic water pipe. I happily brought it home, washed it and began working on a mat for Egyptian papyrus.

For the work I needed the following materials and tools:
- plastic pipe;
- linen cord;
- corrugated cardboard;
- black fabric (preferably velvet);
- PVA glue;
- paints;
- putty;
- acrylic lacquer;
- “zero” sandpaper;
- saw;
- scissors and stationery knife;
- brushes.

We take corrugated cardboard and cut out the base 5 cm (on each side) larger than the size of the papyrus.

We cut the fabric to the size of the base with an allowance of 3-4 cm in order to wrap around the edges of the cardboard.

Glue the fabric onto the cardboard and set it aside to dry. We saw the plastic pipe in half lengthwise. We measure and cut pieces 5-7 cm larger than the base (cardboard).

Now we use linen twine to imitate bamboo knots or so-called ribs. To do this, we simply wrap the twine around the pipe in several layers to create a fairly high tubercle, about 0.5 cm in height.

This should be done at approximately a distance of 15-20 cm, but there is no need to measure the gaps with a ruler. The uneven distance between the ribs will give our bamboo a natural charm.

Next, we prime the pipe with putty, paying special attention to the nodes. If it doesn’t turn out very neatly, don’t despair, because after drying we will sand it with sandpaper.

After drying and sanding, you need to paint the bamboo ribs. This should be done as follows: the first stage is to paint the bamboo with brown paint, let it dry, the second stage is to highlight the most convex element of the assembly with black or dark brown paint.

Then cover the entire bamboo with lighter paint and use a dry brush to wipe off the paint in several places. Cover with varnish. Dry.

In the meantime, we glue our papyrus onto the finished mat (cardboard covered with fabric). We leave it to dry again and take up the dried bamboo. Now I will call the pipes that way, because they have really become like him. We need to make a frame.To do this, take twine and tie the sticks crosswise. You need to tie it very tightly!

Here is our frame.

Using a needle or awl, we pierce the passe-partout on all sides at an equal distance of 0.5 cm from the edge. We thread the twine through the holes, wrapping it around the frame. In the end it turns out like this.