papermaking for beginners

save scraps of paper -- normal paper, not carbonless copy or calenderized (coated) stuff. tearing the paper into itty bits is a good thing. ziploc bags work well to store this.

save itty bitty things like tiny feathers or fluff; that stupid cottonwood that's blowing all over the yard; likewise the dandelion seed floating over from your neighbor's yard ... raid the laundry for that fluffy soft stuff in the dryer filter -- it's called lint.

don't forget to find a few clean handiwipes -- not paper towels or regular towels or dish rags -- you are going to need handiwipes (or something similarly smooth, absorbent, and STRONG.

yay for messy crafts!

talk dad into making two small wooden frames ... we're talking card size. sweet talk dad into covering one with screening. (boy, you're brave)
sweet talk mom into letting you borrow a bucket for ... well .... okay for maybe a few days. while you're at it, convince her that the blender would be fun too.

heh ... okay, here we go.

remember all the paper scraps? you want bits no bigger than a quarter, smaller is better. put them in the bucket for now. don't go on to the next step until you have a lot of paper bits -- read the next step to see why.

put two to four cups warm or hot water into the blender. drop in about three hands full of paper scraps.

BEFORE YOU TURN ON THE BLENDER ... PUT THE COVER ON!!!!! <--- very very important. mom is NOT going to be happy if you spray this stuff all over her kitchen.

okay. got the paper bits and the water in the blender? got the cover on? turn the blender on -- if it has a pulse setting, this can be fun to watch. run it in bursts until the paper bits are broken up into fibers, and the stuff looks like ... well .... like the dog got sick.

now add some laundry lint, dandelion seeds, cottonwood seeds, glitter ... (while mom's not looking ... heh) and
2 (TWO) tablespoons of liquid laundry starch.

pulse or mix one more minute. gross, huh?

remember the two frames? the frame with the screening should be laid down flat, screen side up. smooth a handiwipe over the screen (yes, this means it will be hanging over the edges of the frame). now set the second frame (the one with NO screen) directly on top.

carefully pour the goopy gloppy stuff out of the blender, onto the screen. spread it as evenly as you can. watch mom scream when she realizes this step should have been done outside on the grass, not on the kitchen table.

survived? good. set this outside in the sun to dry. if you have a really really impatient parent or sibling, ask for a drink of water or something, because this could take a while.

once the majority of the water has dripped through,remove the top frame and carefully smooth one handiwipe over the top of the paper slurry. leave it there. leave this in the sun. trust me ... it works, but keep the dog away from it.

when the slurry has slowed down to a very very occasional drip, it's time for the next step. now is a good time to tell mom how much you love her.

carefully lift the two handiwipes off the screened (bottom) frame. lay the handiwipes flat on a flat surface, like an old towel, or something, and let it dry out.

once it's dry, you can peel off the handiwipes (never peel the paper off ... peel the handiwipe) you SHOULD end up with a fairly decent bit of handmade paper!

if you messed up and it's still pretty damp, keep it between the handiwipes, and convince your parent to let you iron it on low. the handiwipes keep paper fiber from getting all over the iron and ironing board.

a few things to remember:

... paper is flat. this means that round things like beads won't work well unless you are doing a paper sheet that is thicker than the object ... and if you are, add two tablespoons of white glue to the blender. DON'T ADD THE BEADS ETC until you've turned off the blender ... mom will be very upset if you chip one of her blender blades.

DON'T FORGET TO CLEAN THE BLENDER!!!!!!! this includes twisting off the bottom of the blender canister so you can get the blade thing clean. ask mom ... with most blenders, you twist off the base, and then you can remove the blades, the rubber gasket, etc.

if you like things like tissue paper, you can layer bits of this on the handiwipe BEFORE you pour the paper slurry on. if you want to, you can also toss in a few bits during the blender step but only pulse once or twice and then stop -- if you pulse longer, it will break up all those pretty bits and you won't see them ...

why did you need starch? modern paper is made with a sizing which helps keep it from getting wrinkly and mushy. starch is a very cheap form of sizing. ... besides ... you should still have some left over, from when you made the silly putty (homemade).

and last but not least, yes, you can use newspaper but the ink may not come off the blender very easily, especially if the ink has creosote in it ... and if it has creosote in it, it should not be used in your kitchen blender.