How to make your own paper

In a session today we were taught how to make our own hand-made paper.

This is a step-by-step guide on how to do so:

What you will need:

• A tray half filled with water
• Newspaper or plain paper shreddings
• A blender
• J-cloths/Dishcloths
• Wooden frames and ones with wire mesh
• A surface that can get damp

1. Firstly you will need to take a large handful of shredded paper (either plain white paper or newspaper etc.) and place into a blender, pushing it as far to the bottom as possible.
2. Secondly you will need to add water (of any temperature) to the blender and ensure that it is enough to cover the paper
3. Blend the contents together until it is of a lumpy thick texture and there are still smaller shreddings of paper in the mixture
4. Pour the contents of the blender into your half filled tray of water
5. Mix the bucket around and assemble the wooden frame together
6. Dip the wooden frame deep into the bucket and raise out of the water, being sure to have a large amount of paper on your wire mesh
7. Gently shake out any excess water from the frames and remove the top wooden frame
8. Quickly flip the paper out onto your j-cloths on your surface
9. Using another j-cloth use this to then push down on top of the wire mesh to soak up any extra water in the paper
10. When satisfied then lift the wire mesh off of your paper and leave it to dry
11. If you are not pleased with the result, repeat the process until satisfied