Making Handmade Paper

Want a project that is FUN for both you and your children as well as an awesome way to recycle and turn it into a beautiful item?!!!

It probably sounds harder than it is but making paper at home is EASY and FUN! Be creative!!!

First you'll need to make a �mold'. You can be elaborate but for our starters we'll make this plain and simple! Get some wire or fiberglass screening (like for windows) and stretch it over a wood frame. The wood frame can simply be 1x1 or 1x2 wood strips nailed or even stapled together to form a square or rectangle however big you want your paper to be, but you should probably stick to �smaller' size frames til you get the hang of this and also to ensure the mold will fit in your sink or in tub as that'll be part of the process. Simply stretch the screen over the mold and up onto the sides of it and staple…making the screening as tight as possible and not have any slack. There you're done with the mold making!

Now the items you'll want to use in your paper can be varied and consist of any or all of the below and remember the colors of the ingredients below will determine the color of your finished project.

�Grass
�Flowers
�Shredded unprinted paper
�Leaves
�Newspaper shreddings
�Construction Paper
�Tissue Paper
�Napkins
�Foil
�Tinsel
�Old Greeting Cards
�Paper bags
�Magazines (though it's better to NOT use �glossy' pages)
�Egg Cartons

1. Round up all of your paper making ingredients and mix them all together by ripping into small bits and pieces. Place in a blender. Fill it about ½ way full with your �ingredients' then fill the blender with WARM water.

2. "Pulse" the blender off and on for 30 sec intervals to start then increase the speed til it's well blended and there are no big chunks left in it.

3. (Optional) add whole flowers, petals, yarn, tinsel to accent your paper! Experiment!

4. Fill either your sink about half way full with water. Add at least three blender loads of paper pulp. Stir the pulp mixture into the water.

5. Put your mold into the pulp mixture in the sink, wiggle it from side to side until the pulp lays level on the screening part of the mold, you'll have to do this while it's under water.

6. Lift the mold up out of the water and wait until most of the water has drained from the mold. If the �paper' looks too thick, insert back under water and remove part of the pulp. If it's too thin, add more pulp and repeat!

7. Once the mold stops dripping, gently lay the mold down flat, with the paper directly on the fabric. Take a sponge and press against the �paper' to remove as much water as you can.

8. Pick up the mold and gently invert the mold on the side of a sheepskin, wool, felt or flannel. The wet sheet of paper should remain on the fabric. If it gets stuck to the mold, don't worry, just trying soaking up some more of the water using the sponge like you did above.

9. dry your paper either by laying on sheets of fabric or hanging them from a clothesline!

10. When they're dry, you've got yourself your own handmade paper! Drying times will vary depending on thickness of paper as well as your environment.