Cheverland and Peculiardom: June 2012

Make Recycled Paper at Home

Make recycled paper at home to create unique cards, invitations and stationery. Do your part to help the Earth and recycle your old newspapers, copy paper and wrapping papers. Easily make recycled paper in an afternoon from items you already have on hand by following the steps below.

Instructions

Create your recycle paper making mold and deckle from old picture frames. Choose the same size frame as paper you wish to make. Remove any glass. Staple the piece of screen tightly to the back of one of the frames. The second frame just lies on top of the first during the paper making process.

1) Locate recyclable paper to use. You need the equivalent of 50 sheets of copy paper to mix up enough pulp to create several sheets of recycled paper. White or colored copy paper from the recycle bin works best. Newspaper also works but does not create as nice an end product due to the high volume of ink and thin quality of the paper. Nonglossy wrapping paper also works and adds some interest to your recycled paper.

2) Shred the recycled paper. Shred different types and colors separately. If shredding by hand, shred or cut into 1-inch pieces. Do not use a machine shredder unless it crosscuts. If using long thin shreds in long thin strips, you will need to tear them into shorter strips.

3) Place the shreds in dishpan tubs and cover with water. If using colored and white papers, soak them separately. Soak several hours or overnight.

4) Create the pulp in a blender. Add a handful of soaked paper and fill the blender ¾ full with warm water. Blend on puree setting until large lumps disappear. Blend the pulp until it reaches the consistency of oatmeal. If desired, add very fine glitter or crushed dried herbs or flowers at this time to add interest to paper.

5) Pour the pureed paper mixture into a dishpan or similar container. Use about 4 blenders full of pureed paper and fill the rest of the tub up with warm water. The pulp mixture should be about 90% water after it is mixed in the tub. Use your hands to mix it well.

6) Begin to make the new paper by placing the frame with no screen on top of the back of the frame on which you stapled the screen. Holding the two pieces tightly together, dip them into the pulp holding the frames vertically. As soon as they are under the pulp's surface, turn the frames horizontally so that pulp will rest on the surface of the screen as you raise it out of the tub. Raise the frames out quickly but carefully so that the layer of pulp stays as even as possible.

7) Hold the two frames over the tub of pulp so that the water drains off as much as possible. Carefully lift off the top frame to expose the layer of pulp now in a paper shape. Be sure to cover your drying area with the cotton fabric. After the pulp has drained and settled a few minutes, flip the screen-covered frame holding the pulp over quickly and carefully onto your cotton covered work surface.

8) Use the sponge to firmly but gently take off as much water as possible by going over the surface of the screen several times. Repeat this, continuously squeezing water from the sponge, until the pulp on the screen begins to lighten visibly in color due to the drying from the sponge. At this point, you should be able to lift the screen frame off the paper carefully and leave the new paper in tact on the cotton sheet to dry.

9) After the new recycled paper has dried overnight, carefully run your fingers under the edges of the paper to lift it off the cotton fabric. Turn it over to finish drying if necessary. Place dry paper under some heavy books to flatten any warping overnight. Use your new recycled paper to write letters or to create cards or crafts after flattening overnight.

Cheverland and Peculiardom

Thursday, June 28, 2012

See you in Sweet November

A Thing of Beauty (makes a hole in the pocket)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Happy 4th to us!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Will Start my Own Project

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Motivation