How To Make Recycled Paper

Homemade paper tugs at my heart like no other. It’s delicate, beautiful, and thoughtful. I love the time and effort that gets put into making such a simple object; an object that we often take for granted.

It actually is not at all difficult to make paper. It just takes a bit of time, but each moment spent on any project is another opportunity to pour some love into the creation process!

Materials:

Fine-gauge screen (I purchased a window screen from a hardware store)
Wooden frame (I used an old picture frame)
Basin slightly larger in size than the wooden frame
Medium bowl
Nails or staples
Paper scraps
Food processor or blender
Liquid starch (optional)
Pressed flowers, seeds, pieces of thread, or anything else you’d like to add into your paper (optional)

Homemade recycled paper

Directions:

1. First, make your framed screen. Attach the screen to the back of the frame using nails or staples. Trim away the excess screen.

2. Next, tear your paper scraps up into small pieces, about 1×1 inch each. Soak these in warm water for at least a half hour. Thicker and stronger paper may need a full 24 hours before they become soft enough.

Homemade recycled paper

3. Combine a handful of soaked paper and about 2 cups of warm water into a blender and pulse until you reach a relatively smooth consistency.

4. If you’re planning to use your paper for writing, add in the liquid starch to your pulp at this point and mix.

5. Fill your basin with at least a few inches of water. Press the framed screen into the basin so that it’s submerged. Pour the pulp onto the screen, and smooth out evenly with your hands. Lift up the frame, and arrange any pressed flowers or other items into your pulp. Continue to hold the frame above the basin to allow the excess water to drain back into it.

Homemade recycled paper 2

Homemade recycled paper 3

6. Place the frame onto a counter or table, and press evenly on top using a towel or sponge to collect additional excess water.

Homemade recycled paper 4

7. Allow your paper to dry fully — this could take anywhere from a few hours to a full day, depending on the thickness of the pulp and how much water it has absorbed. Setting it in a sunny spot can help speed up the process!

Homemade recycled paper 5

8. Once it’s fully dry, peel the paper off of the screen and enjoy!

Homemade recycled paper

Homemade recycled paper

More DIY ideas from the BLDG 25 blog.

Follow FP Brigette on Twitter.

0 0 vote
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
17 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
10 years ago

Oh I have wanted to do this for so long! SO lovely!

http://juliettelaura.blogspot.com

ju
10 years ago

love, love, love!

10 years ago

This is such a relaxing and rewarding craft project! I like pull colored paper from the recycling bin at work and combine it with recycled newspaper; it looks amazing. You can also add some food coloring or natural dyes like tea to give it color. If you want it to be super thin, once you get a lot of the water out use a rolling pin or a water glass and roll it out. If you end up with holes it’s okay, you can patch them up easily with excess from the blender! This works really well in the summer because you can put your paper outside to dry in the sun!

10 years ago

I’ve always wanted to know how to make paper by hand. I didn’t realize it was so easy! I really love handmade paper with ferns and flowers; anything that reminds me of a hike in the forest is so beautifully calming. Thank you for sharing this wonderful process!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWeaverOfWords

10 years ago

Your’s DYT are always awesome!

10 years ago

Ooooooooooo I have always wanted to do that!! Thank you for the tutorial! ^^

10 years ago

Its really superb. This method is so much easy & fun involved it. I m really gonna do it my self. Thanks for sharing mate!

Lisa
10 years ago

This reminded me of when my mum and I made our Christmas cards with recycled paper!
And a trick to make it even easier: stretch a wire hanger to a square and put on it one leg of an old, broken pair of tights (I keep mine in a plastic bag, they can ALWAYS be useful!) and ta-daaaa, there goes your 0$ investment frame :)

10 years ago

whoa whoa whoa!
thanks for the reminder of this superbly rootsy craft, will be doing this for jewelry sales tags!
http://teeshkielawa.blogspot.com.tr/

10 years ago

These are perfect for making cards for any occasion, love how each one is unique.

http://lifeandcity.tumblr.com

10 years ago

I LOVE this post! Who knew it was so easy? This is really great. Thanks for posting – I am definitely going to try this.

9 years ago

Love the paper-making tutorial!

Do you often write about paper & recycling?

sandhya
9 years ago

This is a good one using with the scarp papers to make into a hand made paper

I pay a quick visit each day some web pages and blogs to read content, excepot
his webpage presents quality based posts.

8 years ago

So cool idea! This could be used as a gift! I can recycle all of my old fashion magazines and I can convert them in beautiful decorations! Thank you a lot for the original idea!

8 years ago

We are looking for investors for papery recycling, oil recycling and lubricant recycling. http:///acornpartners.net/

5 years ago

Amazing idea if it is done properly. Just a frame from the shop and it can be the perfect present for somebody. There is just something wonderful it the way that it is handmade and it shows that you can make some art out of old piece of paper.