Papier-mâché has risen to nearly a fine art in Tonalá, Jalisco. Many Oaxaca handicrafts stores stock small flocks of Tonalá-made birds, cats, frogs, giraffes, and other animal figurines, meticulously crafted by building up repeated layers of glued paper. The results—sanded, brilliantly varnished, and polished—resemble fine sculptures rather than the humble newspaper from which they were fashioned.
Other paper goods you shouldn’t overlook include piñatas (durable, inexpensive, and as Mexican as you can get), available in every town market; colorful, decorative cutout banners (string overhead at your home fiesta) from San Salvador Huixcolotla, Puebla; and amate, wild fig tree bark paintings in animal and flower motifs, from Xalitla and Ameyaltepec, Guerrero.