Homemade (recycled) Paper

recycled paper

Posted by moonfae

About

I've been wanting to make my own paper for a while but didn't have the stuff needed.. But today i decided i'd try it and just improvise.
This is my first attempt for all to see :P
hope It's not too many pics for you gals n guys.

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You Will Need (3 things)

  • Wire
  • Paper Scraps
  • Pantyhose Tights

Steps (8 steps, 30 minutes)

  1. 1

    Okay First you need a mold /frame thingy.
    I found some strongish wire in the garage and made it into a box shape ( can do this with a wire hanger if you have one)
    I took old tights/legging and stretched it over the wire.
    If the wire loses shape you can just reshape it.
    I then sewed around the edges and cut off the extra material

  2. 2

    Gather scraps of old paper.
    I'm using construction paper, paper cut out from the book i'm altering,and i added tiny shreds of the legging material for good measure :P

  3. 3

    pour one cup of scraps and 3 cups of Hot water into a bowl and let them soak.

  4. 4

    after 5 minutes, lose patience and come back and moosh and shred the paper with your hands,then try the whisk.
    If you have a blender that you can use and know how to take apart to clean well.. this would be a good time to use it.
    I don't so i did it by hand and whisk.
    edit: okay so I broke down and decided to try the margarita blender ( shhh don't tell anyone)
    it came out much thinner, but i would next time either blend it less or add hand blended spoonful or 2 to the pulpiness to even it out.

  5. 5

    Now you need a pan that your fram thingy will fit in, I chose a glass baking pan.
    Pour the newly made pulp into the pan and dip in the frame Or keep the frame in there when you pour it) and move it around as if you're looking for gold. Also add embellishments if you want to ( threads, flower bits etc)
    when you're content with how much pulp is over the frame, lift it straight out.

  6. 6

    Now it needs to dry.
    lay it down on felt or paper towel or neswpaper or a dish towel.
    something to soak up the drippage.
    I patted mine with the dish towel and it didn't distort the pulp.
    if you have a clothes line you could hang the frame with pulp on it to dry.

  7. 7

    after 5 mins i lost patience and brought out my heat gun. hair dryer should work just as well.
    drying time with the new tool will be considerably less than drying outside.
    drying time may very.
    this was my first time and you might notice, my pulp had big bits in it So some areas were chunky and took longer to dry

  8. 8

    peel the paper of the frame.. if yours looks like mine then it'll probably have some paper curled around the edge so peel it up before attempting to peel the paper off completly.
    be very careful if you used a blender and have a thin sheet it may tear easily around the edges.