How to Make Flower Seed Paper
Handmade paper is a great way to add a personal touch to letters, gifts and invitations. The art of papermaking has existed for thousands of years, but you can make flower seed paper with a few simple steps and some special tools.
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Instructions
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Use pre-mixed cotton rag paper pulp bought from a paper goods supplier. Beating your own paper pulp will take a long time and requires special equipment. Save time and leave the hard part to the experts by buying pre-made pulp in buckets instead.
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Soak pulp in a shallow tub of lukewarm water. Allow the pulp to soak for at least an hour so it gets to room temperature. The mixture in the tub should be equal parts water and pulp.
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Run your hands through the water in a back-and-forth motion, up and down, then side to side to thoroughly mix the pulp into the water. Put your hand all the way down to the bottom of the tub to mix in all the pulp that has settled on the bottom.
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Add flower seeds to the pulp and mix it again. The type of seeds you add to the paper mixture depends on what you'll be using the paper for. If you want to use the flower seed paper as stationary, use small, flat seeds that won't impede writing. If your paper is going to be decorative, like pages in a photo album, use a larger quantity of bigger, more uniquely shaped seeds.
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Strain a sheet of paper up out of the water using a deckle, which is a paper-making instrument consisting of a mesh screen stretched over a square frame. If you don't have a deckle and can't find one through your pulp supplier, use a length of mesh screen cut in the same shape of the piece of paper you're making.
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Allow as much water as possible to drain out of the screen and off the paper back into the tub. Flip the screen over onto a section of newspaper. Press firmly on the back of the screen to release the paper from the screen and adhere it to the newspaper.
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Lay the paper flat to dry overnight. Once it's completely dry, it will be easy to lift a corner of the flower seed paper and peel it off the newspaper.
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