Pioneering in Paper: A Guide To Making Your Own Paper

The+finished+product

Lilly Wolfe

The finished product

Lilly Wolfe, Columnist
November 9, 2020

In an age of mass consumerism, the desire to take on hobbies with more tactical elements, including sewing, wood working, and cooking has been on the rise. Another practical item you can spend your time making is paper. We use so much paper everyday and usually never even pay attention to the large amounts we discard. You can take those old assignments and newspapers and turn them into some brand-new, charmingly rustic paper.

Materials:

  • Scrap paper
  • Blender
  • Scissors
  • Two similar picture frames of the desired size of your paper
  • Needlepoint canvas
  • Tub (large enough to fit picture frames)
  • Bed sheet
  • Heavy book

Instructions:

  1. Take scrap paper and cut or rip it into smaller pieces no larger than one square inch in size.
  2. Soak paper in water for around 10 minutes and knead between fingers to ensure the safety of your blender. 
  3. Put the wet paper slurry into a blender and blend for about five minutes or until you have made a thick paste.
  4. Cut the needlepoint canvas to fit the size of your picture frames and sandwich the window screen between the two. If needed you can tape the canvas to one of the frames.
  5. Take your tub and put the paper slurry in it. Add water; the more you add the thicker your paper will be.
  6. Take your paper mold and dunk it in the tub. When you take it out you should have a thin sheet of the slurry on the mold.
  7. Carefully remove the top picture frame and lay the paper face down on your sheet. Then remove the bottom frame. Wait about three minutes before gently taking the canvas out.
  8. Take your heavy book and put it on top of the paper. Stand on the book to thin the paper and speed the drying process.
  9. Wait about seven hours or until dry and carefully remove the paper from the sheet.

There are many ways to personalize this paper. For instance, in order to get different colors, you can take a marker and color on the scratch paper before tearing it up. You could also add flowers or leaves for a fresh floral look. Just remember to take some time to stop your endless amount of consumption and create something for a change.