Today's Summer Daily Fun

Home-Made Paper

Make some cool paper:  Make cool note paper, bookmarks, invitations, or whatever else you can think of with your own home-made paper.

You will need:

• Bits of non-shiny paper like newspaper, used envelopes, or construction paper
• Large pan, like a plastic dish pan
• Water
• Blender
• Screens
• Sparkles, bits of colored string, food coloring to enhance your paper (optional)
• Newspaper
• Towels

How to do it:

• Put several sheets of newspaper down in a place they can be left alone for a couple of days.  This project is messy, so make sure the newspapers are somewhere that can't be hurt with dampness.
• Fill the pan about 1/2 way up with the water.
• Tear the used paper into small pieces into the water in the pan.  Let the paper soak until it's very soft (pulp).
• Kids get help with this part:  Put the pulp, a little bit at a time, into the blender.  Mix on medium speed until the pulp is very well ground up. 
• When all the pulp has been blended, now's the time to add a touch of food coloring or other things to enhance your paper (string, confetti dots, etc.).
• Slowly strain the pulp through the screens, one at a time, until the paper is the thickness you want.
• Flip the screen over onto the newspaper you've put in a place they can be left alone.  Put more newspaper and towels on top of each sheet of paper.  Cover with heavy books and let your paper dry.  Sometimes it takes quite a while for the paper to dry, so don't expect the first step to dry for 24 hours.
• Peel off paper and let it dry another 24 hours.
• Cut or tear the paper to the size you like and have fun making invitations, notes, and anything else you can think of to do with your paper!

Tip:  Not sure about the screens?  You don't need one the size of a window!  A screen about the size of the paper you want to make works best.  If you don't have anything like that lying around the house, you can make screens by using picture frames and screen (the kind used for your screen windows and doors) available from a hardware store.  Cut the screen to fit the picture frame  Then staple the screen to the flat area of your frame, usually the back side. Another Tip:  If you can't find screen material, try using cheese cloth stretched over a frame and stapled.  It won't last as long, but it's workable.

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