Making Handmade Papers

We did this project some time ago but looking back I see I forgot to add  it to my homeschooling how to collection.

Because we had so much fun doing this and also because I believe we will do MUCH much more of this over the summer I wanted to include it.

I had some new frames in the basement. While they were very nice and solid oak, my husband said to use them and I am glad that I did instead of taking the time to build frames.

I took several sizes and put old screen in them...

All I needed was a scissors and a staple gun.

The first batch we did we used paper from the paper shredder. WAY TO RECYCLE!

I took a big tub and filled it with a couple inches of water and made sure that my frames could move around easily.

I then decided I would like to try some color. So I found some old purple and blue scrap paper and blended it with some water to form a thick pulp. You then add this to your big water tub.

 You swish your frame inside the water tub until your screen is soaked. This one has a nice square trim around it because I put a second frame on top of this one to get the crisp edges.

We tried several kinds of sponges and towels and in the end a simple kitchen sponge worked best for us. You lightly press against the pulp to pull out the water, then peel the paper from the edges carefully. You can either let them airdry for a while or you can immediately iron them between towels. The latter is what we chose.

Some finished samples. We made about 75 of several different colors. My favorites were the brown and the greens. For Easter we punched holes in these and gave them as journals to friends.