You can make unique design paper with your own hands. On its basis, you can make handmade postcards and albums, which will be a wonderful gift for any holiday. It is also an ideal way to dispose of accumulated waste paper.
Preparation of materials
For making handmade paper, any cut of different types of paper is suitable. You can use copier paper, newspapers, egg cartons, and even toilet paper. You need a blender to shred the paper and prepare the paper pulp. Sometimes, to increase the density, starch or PVA glue is added to the paper pulp.
You also need a sponge, cloth and screen to work. You can make a special screen yourself, for this you need a frame and a piece of plastic or metal mesh with small cells. The size of the frame determines the size of the future sheet of paper. To make a screen, you just need to attach the mesh to the frame using a furniture stapler.
You will need a wide and deep tray slightly larger than the screen. To decorate the paper, you can prepare various decorative elements: pieces of thread and foil, dried leaves and flowers, sparkles. Natural or artificial colors can be used to color the paper.
Paper making process
The first step is to prepare the pulp. To do this, tear the prepared paper into small pieces and fill it with warm water. The paper should be soaked for 45 minutes. Then the mixture of paper and water must be placed in a blender and turned on for 40-60 seconds, the mass should become mushy. The longer you grind the mass in a blender, the thinner the paper will ultimately be.
The second step is to pour some water into the tray. Pour the pulp from the blender into the tray and mix thoroughly. If after shredding there are large pieces of paper, then they are removed from the tray so that the surface of the sheet is uniform. At this stage, you can add a little glue or starch to the paper pulp, as well as decorative elements.
At the third stage, the screen with the mesh is immersed in the tray. The pulp should be evenly distributed over the surface of the screen. After that, the screen is carefully removed from the tray. Wait until excess water drains into the tray, then blot the surface with a sponge.
The screen is placed on a prepared cloth, gently pressed on the mesh and a sheet of paper is separated from the surface of the screen. On top, a sheet of paper must be covered with another piece of fabric and attached with a press (a heavy book is perfect for this purpose). After a while, the press is removed and the sheet is dried. To speed up the drying process, you can iron the finished paper with an iron or dry it with a hair dryer.
