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| Craft a finished horno oven with a wooden door for Josefina or Kaya. |
Although a horno similar to this one was once sold as an accessory for Josefina, you might like to craft one for your Kaya doll as well. Many Native Americans in the Southwestern States once cooked in ovens similar to this one.
It is best to set paper mache sculptures outside in the sunshine or in a
hot attic to harden. If the pulp is allowed to dry too slowly, in a
humid environment, it will not properly cure.
Mold will grow on moist
paper mache if it does not dry quickly (within a few days) and then you will need to throw away the craft and start over. This is why I elect to work with paper mache during the summer months in Missouri. But if you live in a drier environment than I do, you can successfully make a project like this one anytime of the year.
Supply List for The Horno and Door:
- paper mache pulp
- newsprint
- white school glue
- Popsicle sticks
- acrylic paints: white, tan, brick red, yellow, adobe clay color, brown
- black spray paint
- Mod Podge
- masking tape
- paper bowl and plastic knife
- scrap cardboard
- Crush newspapers into a "hill" shaped mound with a flat bottom and cover this with masking tape. (see photo below) This will be the upper part of the horno.
- Crush and shape the lover half of the oven into a square shape and cover this with masking tape ass well.
- Now attach the top and bottom together with masking tape.
- Take a marker and draw the opening for the oven directly onto the horno.
- Mix together the paper mach pulp according to the directions given on the package. Use disposable cup and knife to mix the pulp so that it may be tossed into the recycling for a quick and easy clean up.
- Spread a 1/2 inch layer of paper mache pulp across the surface of the horno excluding the inside of your drawn opening. Let the pulp dry thoroughly before proceeding to the following steps. Hot dry heat will speed up this process.
- Take a kitchen steak knife and cut into the opening that you have drawn for your horno previously. Cut away and pull out the newsprint carefully. This should not be difficult if you have allowed the paper mache pulp to harden thoroughly.
- Now mix more paper pulp and build up both the inside and outside of the oven surface using your finger tips or a plastic knife. This will give you the opportunity to mend any tears in the surface or to fill in holes and dips. Let the oven dry again until it's surface is hard, then you can go ahead and paint the horno.
- I first mixed together my acrylics to make an adobe brick color. I applied several layers of this fast drying paint until I was satisfied with the results. It's important to use fast drying paint on paper mache surfaces so that your sculpture does not become 'soggy'. If you wish, you may use a blow dryer set on a high heat to quicken this process.
- I spray painted the interior of my horno in order to give it the look of real smoke and ash.
- Mod Podge the project when you have finished the painting.
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| Left are the masked parts of my doll's horno oven. Center, here you can see that I have marked where the door will be in the future. Right, I have finished the first application of paper mache pulp and left the door's opening undone. That is where I will poke a hole and judiciously remove the newsprint before proceeding to the second application of pulp. |
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| Left, above you can see that I have pulled out the crushed form of the horno's top after the paper pulp has hardened. Now I will mix and reapply a second thick coat of pulp to the interior and exterior of the oven again. Right, here you can see a crack in the pulp that will be filled during the second application. Don't worry about cracks like these. They are easy to mend if you have not yet painted the surface. |
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| Left, both the inside and outside surfaces of my horno are covered with a thick layer of paper mache pulp that is allowed to dry thoroughly. Center, I left the bottom of my project without pulp and covered it with just plain newspaper and white glue. Right, here you can see how I made a stencil for the door to the oven, by pressing a piece of paper into the opening with my finger tips. This leaves an impression in the paper that I can cut out for the door. |
Step-by-Step Instructions: The Oven Door
- I made a stencil for the door to the oven, by pressing a piece of paper (hot pink) into the opening with my finger tips. This leaves an impression in the paper that I can cut out for the door.
- After cutting the stencil for the door, trace around it on top of a piece of scrap cardboard.
- Cover the surfaces of the door with masking tape. This step is to give the door added strength.
- Now cut and glue on Popsicle sticks and/or wooden coffee stirring sticks to the front of your horno oven door. I also glued one piece of wood on top to brace the other slats.
- I only masked the inside of the door with tape and painted it.
- Paint the door using several shades of brown and a dry paint brush in order to achieve an "aged" look on the door.
- Seal the surfaces of the door with Mod Podge.
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| Left, cut and glue on Popsicle sticks and/or wooden coffee stirring sticks to the front of your horno oven door. Center, I only masked the inside of the door with tape and painted it. Right, my finished horno oven measure 7 1/2 inches tall. |
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| A horno at Taos Pueblo in New Mexico in 2003. These ovens look much the same as they did in Josefina's world. |
Horno is a mud adobe-built outdoor oven used by Native Americans and early settlers of North America. Horno is the usual Spanish word for "oven" or "furnace", and derives from the Latin word furnus. Originally introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors, it was quickly adopted and carried to all Spanish-occupied lands. The horno has a beehive shape and uses wood as the heat source. The procedure still used in parts of New Mexico and Arizona
is to build a fire inside the horno and, when the proper amount of time
has passed, remove the embers and ashes and insert the bread to be
cooked. In the case of corn, the embers are doused with water and the
corn is then inserted into the horno to be "steam"-cooked. When cooking
meats, the oven is fired to a "white hot" temperature (approximately
650 °F or 340 °C), the coals are moved to the back of the oven, and the
meats placed inside. The smoke-hole and door are sealed with mud. A
twenty-one-pound turkey will take 2½ to 3 hours to cook. It comes out very succulent. Since the horno is made of adobe, it wicks the moisture into the food in a natural convection.
Videos for Building Real Earthen Ovens:
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