There is an easy way to create your own handmade papers without even stepping foot in a store and everyone you know will admire your thriftiness and creativity!
I first discovered papermaking during a shopping trip to my local stamping store a few years ago. The store was hosting a papermaking demonstration and Mr. Arnold Grummer was present to show shoppers his Paper Mill kit.
I sat down in front of this elderly gentleman and listened attentively to every word that passed his lips. His artistry and tips sold me on the idea of buying my own kit, and his words of wisdom about the environment taught me much about using what I have on hand to create artistic papers. You can do the same thing in your own kitchen with a few simple household items and scraps of paper or cardstock.
To begin, you’ll need scraps of paper. These may come from odds and ends such as old envelopes, advertising fliers, or those snippets of paper from your card making sessions. In addition, you will wish to have inclusions on hand. These are items that get “included” in the paper making process for textural interest such as bits of embroidery floss, dried flowers, or snippets of colored tissue paper. Strangely enough, dryer lint makes a wonderful inclusion to handmade paper; the lint contains cotton and other fibers and gives strength to your paper. It can also add color to the paper pulp. Denim jean lint added to white paper gives a beautiful pale indigo color. Now that’s thrifty!
The next item you’ll need is a kitchen blender. Because we’ll be working with scraps of paper that are dyed, we don’t want to use this or any of the other tools for food preparation. Used blenders can be picked up cheaply at garage sales and thrift stores. I’ve found that the remaining items are easily and inexpensively purchased as well. Those supplies needed include a cellulose kitchen sponges, a plastic dish basin, a cookie sheet, a strainer, and a cooling rack. You may also wish to save used yogurt or butter containers to store mixed paper pulp for later use. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week without spoiling if you add a few drops of wintergreen oil to it.
Making your own paper is messy work; so wear old clothes when you do this.
Tearing the paper is recommended as it breaks down the fibers better than cutting it with a scissors. Set everything you need in one place and within reach. Fill the blender jar with 1 cup of water and enough paper scraps to cover a 7x9 inch area. Blend this on high for 30 seconds. This blended mixture is called “slurry."
The Paper Mill kit has a wooden hand mold, a screen, and a draining rack that are held together by Velcro straps. Assemble them in that order. Fill the dishpan with enough water to cover all but about an inch of the mold when it is set into the pan.
Pour the slurry into the mold while it is in the water. Wiggle your fingers around in the pulpy mixture to spread it evenly over the screen. This is when you’ll want to add those inclusions. Lift the mold straight out of the dishpan and let the water drain. Set the mold onto the cookie sheet and loosen the Velcro straps to remove the screens from the wooden mold. The Paper Mill kit also contains a cover screen, a sponge, and couch sheets which you’ll use in the next steps.
Leave the newly formed paper on the plastic screen and cover it with the cover screen.
Working over the cookie sheet, press firmly over the cover sheet with a sponge. Wring the sponge out as you work. Continue to sponge and wring until there is no more water left. If this is difficult, you need to remove more water!
Lift a corner of the cover screen and slowly peel it from the new sheet of paper.
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Pick up the cover screen and turn it over. Place it with the new sheet of paper facing down onto a couch sheet. Your new paper should be sandwiched between these two layers. Repeat the sponging and wringing once again until all possible water has been removed. This is where the process gets tricky! Place one hand in the center of the cover screen, and grab a corner of the screen with the other hand. Lifting the corner, gradually remove the entire screen as you slide your other hand away from the center. Place a dry couch sheet over the new piece of paper. Use the enclosed press bar to squeeze as much water as you can from the paper that is sandwiched between two couch sheets.
Remove the top couch sheet by lifting one corner and peeling it back slowly. Repeat this process with the bottom couch sheet to reveal the new piece of paper. You will notice that the new sheet of paper is dark in color; this will lighten as it dries, so plan accordingly from the start of your paper-making session. It takes some experimenting to get the color you’d like! I used a cooling rack to hold my samples until I was ready to finish the session. Ironing the new sheets with a household iron will flatten them and also dry your new paper quickly. In addition, you may flatten the new paper sheets between couch sheets that are set under a pile of heavy books. Change the wet sheets for dry ones frequently or you’ll end up with moldy paper. (Pun intended!)
Note: Do NOT dump leftover slurry and water down your kitchen sink pipes. The pulp will harden over time and cost you a lot of plumbing repair fees! Because the pulp is organic, it is safe to dump it into the garden or yard.
This process may seem like a lot of work, but with practice it does get easier.
If you’re in a hurry for a handmade look and you only want a small amount of paper, why not try paper casting? Paper casts may be made with a blender, cotton linter squares, a strainer and ordinary clay cookie molds. Arnold Grummer also makes specialty molds and linter squares for casts. Simply blend the linter squares with 3 cups of water in a blender set on “high”. Pour the pulp into the strainer, pressing out excess water as you go. Take the pulp and press it into the clay mold, let it dry and peel it out for a wonderful card embellishment or paper ornament. It’s easy to do, and the quick results are gratifying to even the smallest of children. Casts may be colored with chalks, acrylic paints, or ink.
Use your imagination and creativity to make beautiful handmade paper and gifts like the ones below. Your wallet and the environment will thank you!
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