|
You Can Make Paper Today! |
|
|
|
|
Articles, How-To's and Interviews -
DIY and How-To's
|
|
Written by Jennifer Ramos
|
|
It is fun and easy to make paper, so gather your favorite remnants of dried flowers and recycle-bin tidbits and play along!
Supplies
- A blender and water
- An empty picture frame covered with old pantyhose - Just stick the frame into one of the legs. This will serve as your deckle.
- You will also need about three inexpensive, craft-store variety felt squares and an old towel
Go to it
1. Put paper and water in a blender (be careful about your mix of colors - too many will combine to give you brown or gray paper).
2. Pour in water to cover the dry ingredients and blend until you get a pulp.
3. Standing in front of the sink, pour the pulp onto the deckle (this is what the hosed frame would be called if it were a screen).
4. Mush the pulp around evenly to the edges of the frame. Set the
deckle in the sink and gently push felt on top to help squeeze out the
excess water
5. Spread out a towel on a nearby the counter and cover it with a piece of felt.
6. Without removing the felt from the pulp currently on the deckle,
pick up the deckle and take it to the felt-covered towel spread nearby
on the counter. Flip it gently onto the towel.
7. While there is felt on either side of the wet paper, push down to work out more water.
8. Remove the top layer of felt.
9. Yay! you have paper.
10. Now let it dry. At some point, you can move it outside to dry
faster in the sun. Sometimes it is a good idea to place a heavy object
(like a book) on top of the paper so it dries flat. This would be done
when the paper is mostly dry and still pliable.
Add fun things to the blender like plant matter (dry is better). If you
actually plan to write on the paper, add spray-starch during the drying
process to keep your ink from spreading. The thinner the blended pulp,
the thinner the paper will likely be. I like to cut shapes from the
paper to add decorative touches to wrapped gifts. Be creative!
Experiment!
© Jennifer Ramos, Textile fetish (www.textilefetish.com)
Based
in Austin, Texas, Textile Fetish sells one-of-a-kind, handmade items, made
mostly from reclaimed and recycled materials. We are a home-based, indie
business that values family and a decent quality of life.
At least fifty percent of what we produce is from recycled and
reclaimed fabrics.
|
