When I first heard about the idea of making my own paper my first reaction was "yha right". It just sounded laborious and you needed all this specialized equipment and just not worth it. I will tell you, however, that making paper is fun, easy, basically free and much easier and more enjoyable for me than figuring out how to add another article onto this stupid blog. Sorry, its not stupid, but sometimes technology make me feel stupid. So I do what any normal and sane person would do and call it names. Okay, back to paper! I have been making my own paper for about a month now and I love it! Maybe you will love it too, maybe you won't. But if you have ever thought about making your very own handmade paper or are thinking about it now you should give it a shot. (It is also a fun activity to do in summer with your keiki when school is out, which for me is this week. Yikes!) I want to start by saying that there are a number of blogs that give some great tutorials on paper making. I read many of them before I tried making my own. Actually that's a lie...I read one..I think. And I was too lazy to make a mold and deckle (what the heck are those you ask? Read on my friend, read on) So I just hand shaped my blended paper mixture between two pieces of cloth. I only made one piece. Anyway it turned out better than expected...
Here is my first piece of Handmade paper, I used watercolor and Ink for the shark design.
So I decided I would pull out all the stops (complete with mold and deckle) and make my first full batch of Handmade paper. I have been making paper pretty consistently since then. Read on for my step by step guide to making your own Handmade paper.
Before we begin, however you do need to gather a few supplies. Here they are in no particular order. Mold and Deckle, blender, large bin (or sink or tub), sponge, felt squares, scrap paper, absorbent materials (towels, old news paper whatever) water and an area for drying. Thats all!
Lets talk about the mold and deckle first. The mold is basically a wooden frame with a tight screen (think window screen material) tacked or nailed to the edges. I have also seen some made with a chicken wire like material in addition to the window screen material. This is not necessary but it adds more support to the screen (you want the screen very taut). There are a number of places online where you can order a mold and deckle, but they are easy to make yourself. Find an old wooden picture frame and cut off a piece of an old screen. Tack the screen tightly onto the frame. (this is actually the hardest part I think). The deckle is simply a wooden frame that fits on top of the mold, and is used to make paper of a uniform size. Sometimes I use one and sometimes I don't, but its nice to have. TIP: If the tacks do not go in relatively easily then your frame is too solid a wood. Try a different one, or use small nails like I did for the small mold in the picture (the one with duct tape).
mold and deckle
Here you see my two molds with the deckles on top.
Blender: Any old kitchen blender will do the trick. Some people say to have a separate one for paper making. They suggest finding an old one at a garage sale or second hand store.
Large Bin. You need a large bin or sink big enough to comfortably swish your mold and deckle in. I use an old plastic toy bin. It does not fit my large mold, but thats ok since I have a smaller one.
Sponge: a sponge is ideal for soaking up the excess water in your newly formed paper. Any old sponge will do.
Felt squares: This was the only thing I had to go out and purchase. I got a package of 10 at Wal-mart for under 3 dollars. They are ideal for transferring your paper off the mold and to the drying area.
Scrap Paper: old art paper, scrapbook paper, computer paper, ext. TIP: I have found the best paper scraps to use are art papers mixed with a bit of the grey recycled cardboard like paper that grocery stores use for egg cartons and such. But don't be afraid to experiment with different papers and different paper mixtures.
Area for drying: a large table is ideal. I use a folding plastic table. Any hard surface that will not be be damaged by water should do.
Okay, now you are ready to begin!
step 1: Tear your chosen paper into little scraps, the smaller the better but no need to get carried away. Let them soak in a bucket of water if you wish. (a galleon ice cream bucket is what I use)
a variety of scrap paper torn into pieces.
step 2: Take a handful of your scraps and put them in a blender. Add a good amount of water. Some people suggest warm water works best. Blend well. If it seems like your blender is struggling you probably need more water and/or less paper. Work in small batches until you have blended all the scraps. Pour the finished batches in your large bucket, sink or tub. It should roughly be the thickness and texture of a pea soup. see?
blended paper scraps
step 3: Add more water to the paper mixture in your large bucket. The more water you add the thiner the paper will be. The mixture should look a bit like this.
Paper slosh
Remember the more water you add the thiner your paper will be. You can also make your mixture thicker by adding more blended paper if you need to.
step 4. Take your mold and place the deckle on top. Hold it firmly at the edges and submerge the mold and deckle in your paper slosh mixture. gently swish it around under the water, and then carefully and slowly bring it up. You want to bring it straight up- do not tilt it around at this point. let the excess water drip down. Now you can very carefully and slowly tilt it around just a tad to help more of the water drip off the edges, but you do not want to jolt it or bang it or the paper mixture will slide around and you will have lumpy uneven paper. (if this does happen, no worries, you can just scrape the paper off the mold and mix it back into the water mixture and try again)
forming the paper
Here you can see I have lifted the mold and deckle out of the mixture, and placed the whole thing on top of my larger mold above the bin. I am removing the deckle to reveal a nice square sheet of paper.
step 5: At this point you can remove the deckle from your mold. You may want to clean up the edges a bit if your deckle does not lay completely flush with the mold. I sometimes use a butter knife for this. always scrape excess paper slosh back into your water mixture. You should now have a very wet piece of paper laying on top of your mold screen. you can let it drip a bit more if you want to. (I like to lay my small mold on top of my large mold positioned over my bin to let the paper drip more)
step 6: now I lay a piece of felt directly on top of the very wet piece of paper and I flip over the mold with the felt and paper still attached to it onto a flat surface covered with absorbent material. So we have the felt on the bottom, then the paper, and the mold facing up at you. Now take your sponge and sop up as much excess water as you can from the paper under the screen. It is important that the paper stays under the screen as you dry it because the wetter it is the more delicate it is and the screen keeps it intact as you press it with the sponge.
soaking up the excess water ...
is an important step that helps stabilize the wet paper sheets
step 7: lift up the mold. You may need to tap it to get the paper to come off, but it should fall off rather easily. If the paper is breaking and sticking it is most likely still too wet. Dab it some more with the sponge and try again. Also, the thiner your paper is, the dryer it needs to be to move without damaging it. Now you have a wet piece of paper laying on top of a piece of felt.
The mold is being lifted off the paper
step 8: Dry your paper. There are several different methods for drying but this one is my favorite-Pick up the felt and paper and lay in face down (the paper on the down side) on your drying area. carefully peel off the piece of felt. let your paper dry. This may take a day or so. Once your paper is fully dry you can easily peel it off the surface. You can iron your paper to get it smoother and flatter if you need to.
The felt is carefully lifted off the paper, so the paper can dry
Paper of various sizes...
are laying out to dry on a fold up table. The dried paper can be easily peeled off the table. Depending on the weather and climate your paper can take up to a day or more to dry.
Thats it! Now you have beautiful paper you can use for all your art and craft projects.
But you do not have to stop here. There are many fun and creative ways to enhance your paper and make it even more unique and beautiful. So you may want to keep a lookout for a future post where we will learn all about adding color, texture and versatility to handmade paper.