How to Make Homemade Paper

Making homemade paper is a fun craft and fairly simple to do once you've assembled all the necessary materials. It is simple enough to do with children and a great way to recycle unwanted paper products in your home.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Variety of paper
• Sponge
• Screen
• Plastic tub big enough for the screen to fit into
• Blender
• White felt (several squares the size of your screen)
• Liquid starch
• Clothes line with clips
• Newspaper

1. Shred the paper into small confetti like pieces. Put these into the blender. Fill the blender up with water until it looks like a soupy mixture (2 cups of water for every ½ cup of paper). Blend until relatively smooth, similar to a pureed soup.

2. Fill the tub with water half way and then add your paper pulp. Add several batches of paper pulp to the tub. You can add the starch at this time (a few teaspoons) or you can add it during the blending process.

3. Maneuver the screen into the tub underneath the layer of pulp and moving it upwards to catch the pulp onto the screen. Continue doing this until the desired paper thickness is reached. Raise the screen out of the water and allow as much of the water to drain as possible.

4. Place a piece of the felt on top of the paper and flip it over onto newspaper. Add another layer of felt on top of the other side of the paper so it is sandwiched between two layers of felt. Using the sponge press out the excess liquid and wring the water back into the tub. Continue build your stack of felt and paper and pressing with the sponge as you make more paper.

5. Once you are done making your homemade paper gently peel apart the felt and paper and carefully lay out to dry flat on newspaper or hang it to dry on a clothes line.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use just about any paper you have around from napkins to construction paper to paper bags and toilet tissue. Experiment with what ever you have around. Of course card stock and unprinted computer paper work fine too.
• Liquid starch is used to prevent ink from bleeding when you write on your paper. Also, it makes it sturdier and gives it structure.
• This project can get a little messy, it is best to work outside.
• To expedite the drying process, run a warm iron over your paper. Put a layer of felt between the iron and the paper as a barrier.
• Put any remaining pulp mixture into the trash can. Putting it down the sink could clog your drain.

[tjsadie]

on 8/16/2009 Yes Use construction paper only one color at a time

[bendano]

on 11/8/2008 Can this paper be died a color?