Recycled Paper Making

I made some recycled paper the other day and lots of you have been asking about how I made it. It's really easy once you get going and fun because each piece of paper you make is a bit of a surprise but you do need a paper making machine. I use Arnold Grummer's Papermill Kit (www.arnoldgrummer.com).

First you gather up some scraps, you can even use old paper bags! I threw in some show fliers, envelopes from bills. ;)


Then rip the scraps into smaller pieces (feels good if you rip something that frustrated you and turn it into something you love!!) and blend with 2 cups of water. The longer you blend them the less bit's of paper you'll be able to see in your final piece.
 


You then pour the blended paper pulp into the paper making machine. It's a series of screens with a mold to guide the pulp through them placed in a tub of water. Use your fingers to shift through the pulp and distribute it evenly. I like to add dried flowers at this point to make the paper more unique and special. (Dont have the best pictures of this part because I'm always pretty occupied!)


Once you've lifted the mold and pulp out (in the photo above) the water keeps draining out and you release the velcro green straps and take your wet molded pulp on a screen over to a cookie tray.


After that you lay a screen over the pulp and gently use a sponge to soak up all the excess water, squeezing it out a few times until you dont have any extra water wringing out.


Then you peal the screen off and use whats called a couch sheet (comes in the kit) to lay over the paper where the screen was and soak up more water (not picured) and then flip the whole thing (couch sheet, new piece of paper and the bottom screen) peal that screen off from the corner gently and place another dry couch sheet where that screen was. You then press with a press block to squeeze as much water out as you can. Its actually a lot easier then I'm making this step sound ;)


You then lay your damp new sheet flat to dry. I like to lay them flat for a while and airing out easily and then place somethingheavy on them to make sure they dry nice and flat. If you forget to lay something heavy on them and they completely dry you can re-dampen the paper with water in a spray bottle (spritz both sides of new sheet til damp) and then place under some heavy books. Voila! New, awesome and 100% unique paper!
 

If you make some paper send me a photo! :D




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