Recycled Paper

I’ve been seeing people make recycled paper with flowers and seeds in it. They’re so beautiful, I imagined making a journal out of them just to write quotes or happy things that have happened to me. I remembered when I was little and my dad made me these frames for me to be able to make my own recycled paper. As things usually go when you’re young, I tried a couple of times and they didn’t turn out how I wanted so I moved onto the next project. But now, with these videos popping up of really pretty paper, I pulled out my frames and tried again.

I used:

Old magazines (not glossy)
Warm water
A plastic bin
Blender
Towels
Wash cloths or sponges
Frames (wood rectangle with mesh stapled to one side)
Printer paper or cotton cloth pieces

I started by putting a small layer of warm water in my bin for my paper to lay in. Next, I took my old magazines and started ripping them into small 1” pieces. The magazines I chose were a flat paper, not glossy, and made sure to take the staples out. I put them in my bin on top of the water and added more water as needed. The paper should be able to soak in the water without using all of it, but there shouldn’t be more than an inch or so of extra water around the paper.

After letting the paper soak for about half an hour, I got out my blender. I only have a nutri bullet, which is fairly easy to clean. But I’ve heard normal blenders are hard to clean up afterwards, so if you’re planning on using one maybe use an old one that you can dedicate to crafting. I put a small handful of paper with about a cup of water in my blender and shredded it up. Sometimes I needed to add a little more water to help keep it smooth. As each bit was blended, I poured the pulp into the same bin I was using to soak the paper.

Now comes the fun part! I used the cup from my blender to mix around the pulp in the water and pour it slowly into one of the frames. Play around with the thickness. You don’t want the pulp to be too thick, but if it’s too thin it will fall apart or have holes. It helps to gently shake the frame to distribute the pulp and let water flow out. I placed the frame on a folded blanket and used my washcloth to gently push out some excess water.

Once the pulp was as dry as I could get it, I flipped over the frame onto a piece of paper on another towel. I’ve seen this done with cotton fabric so it can be hung to dry, but I just needed something to make each paper easy to move off of the floor for the night. This is where you could add flowers or seeds or even glitter to decorate your paper. Once it dries, press it flat and you have new paper!! Some of my pages turned out great and some were a little goofy, but that’s half the fun of crafting. This was a great project and I can’t wait to try it again with decorations. 😊 As always, if you take any fun pictures or videos, tag me on Instagram @SmileMakePeopleWonder and use the hashtag #DandelionSmiles. Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on the next exciting idea.