The Complete Guide to Paper Making
Items made with natural elements can be very appealing. Leaves, twigs, dried plants and herbs, and many more materials help to bring the outdoors in. One of the more natural and earthy crafts is paper making. This craft can be a little tricky and takes practice, but the result is a very beautiful, natural paper that can be used for a number of projects.
To start, you will need to make an 11”x 8” (inside measure) frame out of 1”x 2” boards. In order to do this, you will need to cut two boards 8” long, and two boards 12 ½” long. Drill and then screw these pieces of wood together to form the frame. Stretch a nylon screen (the kind used for doors) across the frame and secure with a staple gun. This size of frame will allow you to make two note cards. You may, however, want to start with something smaller until you feel comfortable with the paper making process.
When you are ready to begin, you will need to gather the following items: a tray that the frame can lay in comfortably (I use a jelly roll pan, but a cookie sheet with sides would work also), old towels, white glue, a piece of wood cut to about 9” long, sponge, blender, newspaper, and the secrete ingredient: junk mail. The kind of junk mail that is acceptable for this process is any kind that is like printer or copy paper. Do not use newspaper or glossy flyers. It is also recommended that you work in the kitchen as this project has the potential to be messy.
Ready? Here we go! Place the screened frame in the tray. Spread out two towels on your worktable, side-by-side, with the sponge by one and the 9” board by the other. Tear up your junk mail (the equivalent of two 8 ½”x 11” sheets) into pieces approximately 2” square. Place in the blender with about 1 teaspoon of white glue and 4 cups water. Tightly seal on the lid.
Blend about 10-15 seconds until the particles are small, but not too tiny. Stop the blender, take off the lid, and pour the contents into the frame quickly, but not so quickly that it splashes everywhere. The idea is that the pulp is distributed evenly throughout the frame, and doesn’t settle in one spot.
Lift the frame out of the water and tilt slightly so one corner is lower and the water can drain out. Take care not to tilt the frame too much as this could cause the pulp to shift. When most of the water is drained out, place the frame on the towel by the sponge.
Using the sponge, carefully place it on the pulp and press gently so that it absorbs the water. Lift the sponge carefully and squeeze out the absorbed water into tray. Repeat this process for the whole tray. To get most of the water out, you will need to blot the whole tray at least twice.
Lift the tray from the towel and set it back down again. This will lessen the chance of the paper sticking when you try to pull it from the screen. To lift the paper from the screen, loosen one end until you can get a good hold on it. I use my nails or a letter opener to achieve this. Pull the paper off the screen and place it on the second towel.
Fold the towel over the paper and press firmly all over with the 9” board. This will flatten the paper sufficiently so it will be stronger and you will be able to write on it if you wish. Finally, place it on the newspaper to dry overnight.
When it is completely dry, the paper may be a little uneven. To rectify this, simply smooth the paper out with an iron on the cotton steam setting. When it has cooled, you will be ready to make note cards, bookmarkers, Victorian sachets, or a variety of other craft projects. Who knows? You may even consider making your own Christmas cards this year.
To make your paper interesting, consider adding the following to the blender along with the paper and glue:
When I make paper, I set aside a few hours to make a large batch. This way, I have paper ready whenever I get the urge to create. I hope you have as much fun with this as I do. But be careful…you might get so into this that you will never buy note cards or occasion cards again!
If you do not see the table at the left, please click here.