Make your own paper (=

Helping Mother Earth, Recycling, Picking up Litter.
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love beats all (;
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Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:15 am

Make your own paper (=

Post by love beats all (; »

This isn't anything new but it's a wonderful way to recycle old junk mail, magazines, newspaper, etc. I've recently taken up bookmaking (Mostly to make a truly personal BoS) and this homemade paper makes for great pages! It's extremely simple to do and requires minimal time. If you're going to use this paper for a magical purpose I'd suggest thinking of it's use while you're making it to charge it; I've also heard of the use of herbs in this process but have never tried it. Good luck and have fun! (=

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/makingpaper.html
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MsMollimizz
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Re: Make your own paper (=

Post by MsMollimizz »


Well that's different !
Here's one I have:
Save dryer lint all winter... every time you dry towels, the lint is a little bit lighter than this font color... Have kept it seperate from other colors for paper, lint from the loads of red, and denim. All other lint comes out either white or gray... use the white to "lighten" the other colors... and the gray to tone down anything too deep in color.
Now... Here's the process. You will need a vat of some sort... use a gold panning tub, is about 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet in size. You can use a Utility sink (laundry sink), boiler tub, or even a baby bath tub...
You will need to make a wooden frame, (make about 8 of them at a time) about the dimensions of the paper you want. You can make this paper as stiff or as 'transparent or opaque' as you choose.} Staple a screen (yes like replacement like you would use for a screen door) to the wooden frame.
In a large pot, bring water to a boil in which you have added (proportioned about 1 part to 4 parts water) okra... yes, okra... that wonderful vegetable with adhesive properties and often resembles snot when it is cooked in soups... (sorry...best way to explain it....)
When it has cooked to a slimy mess...strain this into the vat, adding more water. {Straining can be a problem if it is real slimy... don't be afraid to add water to help it through...dip out as many of the pieces as you can first... it helps.} (You can use shredded, pulverized paper, or cooked down old clothing that you have beat to shreds with mallets... anything actually... but you’re working here with just the lint...) Now add the dryer lint and mix well... You do not want to see lumps... just a murky concoction. You want this to be fairly thin... the thinner the liquid, the slower the process, but the better the effect and the finer the paper...
Now, dip the screen/frame into the vat, and let the "wash" run through. Set the frame aside (standing up... It'll help the water to shed off and dry faster) to 'sort of dry' and go to the next frame. After it 'set's up' a bit, wash the liquid over it again... you want to slowly build up a sheet of paper... you do NOT want thick lumpy paper... It will be smooth and as fine as rice paper if you work this method right. At some point, (usually the 3rd go around) the water will no longer run through the screen, allow it to 'wash over' the paper... alternating directions each time you wash it over.
Oh well.... Many different ways to make paper, but this puts to good use something that you would normally throw away, and it really does make a very 'fine' paper.
:flyingwitch:
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MsMollimizz

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