Homemade paper-this has to be the ultimate in recycling!
BigSmall did this with Emma Croft, from the Witltshire Wildlife Trust in the summer, but I forgot to take any pictures, and then the paper blew away when put it out in the sun to dry-oops!
So I was really pleased when he got the chance to do it again, at the Christmas Craft Day where I made my wreath. I even remembered to take some pictures this time.
The paper was studded with wildflower seeds, so that when it is done with, it can be ‘planted’ and wildflowers will grow-how sweet is that?!
If you want to have a go, this is what you need:
- Shredded paper
- Water
- A stick blender
- Roasting tin/deep tray
- Colouring-Emma had some special stuff, but I am guessing you could use a smidge of food colouring
- Some jay cloths/flannels
- A sponge
- Old newspapers
- A mesh thing-I don’t know if you can buy these online, and I am struggling to think what homemade alternative you could use-maybe if you could get hold of some of those plastic cross stitch frames that you sometimes get in kits?
- Some flower seeds (optional)
This is what you do:
- Soak your shredded paper in water until it is good and soggy
- Add your colouring (optional, but it does tend to e a bit of a dreary grey colour if you are using office paper) and blend until it makes a pulp
- Add your pulp to a tray of water ad swoosh it around so it is kind of suspended in the water
- Take your mesh and place it on the bottom of your pan, and then with a hand on either side, lift it up, catching an evenly distributed meshful of pulp as you do
- Put this on top of your old newspaper, and then place a jay cloth on top
- Start pressing down with your sponge, to squeeze out as much moisture as possible, and keep going until no more water is coming out
- Flip your ‘paper’ over so that the mesh is now on top, and very carefully peel the mesh away-this is easiest if you start at a corner
- Ta da! Paper 🙂
- You can then scatter/place some seeds on top-I think we did about five, and then get little dots of pulp to squidge on top to cover them up.
- Leave to dry out thoroughly
I think we are going to cut BigSmall’s into a festive shape and then stick it onto a blank card, as it might be quite hard to write on, but I think growable paper is pretty awesome!
My Make Do and Mend Year 
Well done, Ive always wanted to have a go at this, but never found the motivation. I think the cross stitch plastic canvas would be just right. Am looking forward to seeing more of your creations. :o)
Thanks Jo. Had a couple of comments that a net curtain stretched tight over a picture frame makes a good mesh substitute if you did want to have a go yourself!
Never thought of the idea of putting seeds in, so it can grow:) I think you can buy the mesh sheets at car DIY places (no idea why, I guess patching up rust?!). Alternatively an old net curtain stretched over an old picture frame works well:)
Brillo-thankyou!
BigSmall’s paper looks great! You can also make a version of the mesh thing with a piece of net curtain stapled very tightly across an old picture frame. 🙂
Brilliant-will give it a go-thankyou 🙂