Junk Creation

Junk Creation and Scrap Booking–They both use scraps!

by Joshua Johnson on January 18th, 2008

The above scrapbookesque (maybe a word and maybe not, but I like it) Junk Creation plaque came about because I realized that I said I’d show people how to make paper–back in May!  Oops.  Here’s a small payment on my earlier promise.  I say small because this is a quick and dirty way to make paper, but not exactly the way many ”professional” home paper makers do it.  I’ll try and dig up some stuff for you all at some point…hopefully it won’t take months again. 

Today’s post is a little bit more involved than some (I know that some of you are sighing in relief, because I have been doing some easier projects lately).  Here’s a picture of what you will need (don’t worry, for those of you who like lists, I’ll put one below the picture…):

1. Toilet Paper (NOT used)

2. Bowl full of WARM/HOT water

3. Scraps of colored paper (I like to use candy wrappers)

4. Scissors

5. Iron

6. Several Sheets of plain, white paper

7. Something to absorb water (old rags are a good idea)

8. Fork

Cut the toilet paper up into the warm water, make it as small as you can.  Let it sit for a while and get very soupy, then stir with the fork.  (Some people add a bit of white [Elmer's] glue to the mixture, just to make sure it sticks.)

Cut the candy wrappers into shreds.  These will end up as colorful accents in the paper we make. (See Below)

Make a space on your counter top to make the paper (don’t put anything around that you want to get wet).  Now, use the fork to scoop the soupy paper/water mixture (it’s called a slurry) onto the counter-top.  Once you have it about hand sized, take the shreds of colored paper and place them on top of the mixture.  It is sometimes fun to make designs, but I like just placing them semi-evenly into the slurry.  After that, you should fork a little bit more slurry over the shreds, just to make sure they are good and cemented into the stuff, but DON’T cover them up entirely.

Grab your absorber and hold it in your spare hand, at the ready.  Press down on the slurry with your hand to squeeze the water out of it.  Be careful, the paper fibers are not all attached at this point.  Then swoop in with the absorber and wipe at the edges, just be careful not to mess up the soon-to-be-paper.

Once the slurry is more or less damp (instead of paper soup) you can cover it with a blank sheet of paper and press it with the iron on high.  Be VERY CAREFUL not to press the slurry for too long, or the blank paper will become wet and start to attach itself to the paper you are trying to make.  Switch paper after a short time so that this doesn’t occur.  After 4-5 papers, your homemade paper shouldn’t stick very much.  (It may take a couple of tries to get this part down.  It sure took me enough time.)

After a while, your paper should become semi-smooth (don’t expect it to be smooth like the store-bought stuff, they use chemicals and an entirely different process to make theirs) and almost entirely dry.  I suggest leaving it overnight at this point.

After your paper is entirely dry, cut it into whatever shape you want!  Notice the pieces of colored paper within the white (I love using foil wrapper in this type of paper, it makes things much more flashy and interesting).  I used the foil from a chocolate orange as a frame-like backing and then an old green sticky note for the front portion.  Pardon my deplorable scrapbooking skills–I just make the stuff, I don’t normally use it.

Let me know what sorts of projects you use this for–I might even feature you.

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