Making Paper

1. Tear the paper you want to recycle into small pieces (about 1" square).

2. Place the torn paper in the blender container with enough water to allow the blades to turn freely and blend until you have pulp. (I like to leave a few very small bits unblended for added texture and color. At this point you can also stir in a handful of dryer lint, glitter, or other things to make your paper interesting.)

3. Dump this pulp into a larger container (such as a dish pan) and add enough water to make a mixture which looks like rather thin oatmeal.

4. Using both hands, dip the deckle (paper making frame) into the pulp. Begin dipping with the deckle tilted toward the pulp; dip with sort of a scooping motion, immersing the deckle in the pulp. Bring the deckle up out of the water, keeping it level; gently shake the deckle to evenly distribute the pulp and knit the fibers together.

5. Remove the outer frame and turn the base of the deckle onto a flat surface (such as a plastic tray) with something on it to absorb the excess water. You can buy paper making felts (also called couch sheets), or make your own with regular felt, or use something like handi-wipes. Gently go over the surface of the wet sheet with a sponge to soak up some of the excess water. Put another sheet of absorbent material on top of the wet sheet of paper you just made.

6. Keep going until you've made all the paper you want, placing each wet sheet on top of the last one with something absorbent in between each one.

7. Put another piece of absorbent material on the top, and on top of that put some kind of non-absorbent flat object (such as a plastic tray). Put a stack of books or rocks on top of that and let it sit for a day or so. Then remove the sheets of paper and finish drying them on a flat surface or by ironing them.

8. After you've finished for the day, you can drain the excess water out of the pulp, stick the pulp into a plastic container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or freeze it indefinitely. Thaw it out, put it in the blender a bit at a time with more water, then put it in the vat.

If you're making paper with mostly printed matter (such as catalogues or those pop-up ads) you might want to wear rubber gloves; sometimes the dyes used in the inks can lead to allergic reactions.

That's about it. You can make your own deckle with regular wood or stretcher bars (the ones used for mounting canvas), and fine-meshed, rust-proof screening.

Resources... Try searching for "papermaking" or "paper kits" at www.DickBlick.com

Books at amazon.com...