How to Recycle Paper into Art

Ever seen that beautiful recycled newspaper art, in a gallery and wondered, "How do they do that?'. These pieces of art, which often have embossed or upraised designs in them can get pretty pricey, but never fear ~ it's easy to make your own at home. This can also be a fun and informative activity for the kids! All you will need is a water tight container ( a five gallon bucket works great), water, a little household bleach, a simple press made from widow screen, one by boards, and an old newspaper or two.

First , tear all your newspaper into small squares, about 1 inch square. When you have all the paper torn up , place it into the watertight container, and cover it with enough warm water to allow free movement. Think of the washing machine filling up in order to gauge how much water you need, the level of the water should be at least an inch or so above the top of the newspaper. Ad a couple of drops of bleach to the water, to prevent it from turning into a nasty smelly goop, and set it aside somewhere. Be sure to choose a safe, out of the way location in your home, as this process takes awhile.

Meantime, you can start constructing your press. This seems a daunting task, but it is actually pretty easy. A complex press can be made by constructing two squares of one by one lumber, into a 'picture frame' shape and stretching window screen over each piece. One of the frames should sit snugly inside the other. Make the largest frame whatever size you want your finished paper to be. If you don't have the tools, or the skills to do this part, most of the time stores like Home Depot will cut the pieces to your specifications for you. It will also simplify the process if you pick up some carpenter's clamps at this time , from the hardware store. They are easily found as they are used for holding furniture together while glue dries, and can be priced very reasonably, if you purchase the plastic ones. The clamps will be used later, but set them aside~ you will see their usefulness when the time comes.

You will need to check on your paper daily, and help it to break down faster. One method for helping the paper to break down in the water is to daily turn it over with your hands and actually reach in and tear, and mash the pulp into smaller pieces. This is something that the kids have a lot of fun with. Another way to simplify the process is to throw a couple of cups of it into the blender each day and pulverize it. Be creative here, you are creating art, you can do no wrong. The basic idea is to break the paper fibers down to an unrecognizable pulp. It only takes a day or two before you can begin to see the individual fibers starting to show in the paper, and then you will get a good idea of what you are going for. You will also start to notice that the ink is dyeing the bucket and coming off the paper. Chlorine bleach and water changes help take care of this. Change the water once a week and add a capful of bleach to the new water. The more often you bleach it , the lighter your end product will be. Make sure to drain the bleach water and rinse it all out of the paper before you put your hands into it, bleach can be dangerous! Any ink that gets stuck on your hands is easy to remove with a cloth and some dish detergent, but if you find it unpleasant or have a sensitivity to the inks or binders, you may wish to wear latex gloves.

After about two weeks you will see that your paper is no longer recognizably paper, but a grayish lump of goo. Don't despair, that's what you wanted to find, believe it or not! Check through it carefully and make sure that it is uniformly broken down. This is an important part of the process! The smaller the particles, the smoother and more professional your paper will look, so you want to make sure it is all fiber and of uniform color and texture. Once you are certain that it is nothing but pulp, it is time to press.

Pressing The Paper:

Now for the fun part. Find a place where your frame can rest easily, but also get air on both the top and bottom. Whatever surface is under the frame should be suitable to catch excess water, such as a sink, a basin etc. If you have been certain to remove all the bleach and ink, then this can be done outside and the excess water can just drip outdoors. Make sure when choosing a place that it should be able to sit, undisturbed for at least a week. Avoid shady spots or full on summer sun as well. You want a somewhat controlled environment for your artwork.

Turn the largest frame deep side up, and scoop an even layer of the pulp into it, no more than a half inch thick. Make certain that it is uniform, or you will find thin spots in your paper! Flip the other frame so that it is also deep side up and insert it into the larger one, pressing down with firm pressure. Scrape all the water that comes to the surface off the top, and secure with clamps or weights to hold down even force on the top frame. Increase the weight (or tighten the clamps) a little each day as you see the paper drying.

Once the paper is completely dry, it is ready to removed from the press and used for whatever artistic purpose you devise! It can be used for note cards, prints, it even makes a beautiful watercolor paper. As you become more adept at recycling and drying the paper, you can even get more creative, by pressing objects such as coins, cookie presses etc into the pulp before drying it to create instant art. So get creative, make some art and help save the planet all at once!