This week for our study ofChina we made handmade paper! It was surprisingly easy, so if you were fearful, let me assure you that YOU CAN DO IT!
Supplies:
- Blender
- Shredded or torn paper
- Water
- 2 Felt sheets (You will sandwich paper between felts, so if you want to make more than one sheet of paper, you’ll need more felt sheets)
- Window Screen (I found this small one at Lowe’s)
- Large plastic basin for water and pulp mixture
- dishtowels
Directions:
STEP 1: Fill your blender about half way with shredded paper, then add water to blender until about 3/4 of the way full.
STEP 2: Blend paper/water mixture until pulpy
STEP 3: Pour LOTS of water in your the large plastic basin then add in blended pulp. Mixture will be very watery.
STEP 4: Dip your screen into the water and gently swish under water until pulp is evenly distributed. Carefully lift up screen out of water. If you have a blank spot on your screen, you can start over, or grab a handful of pulp and put it on manually.
STEP 5: Set screen over basin to drain for a few minutes.
STEP 6: CAREFULLY flip your screen over onto felt sheet. Using dish towel, press all around back side of screen to lift more water and to press paper onto felt. We GENTLY rolled over the top just to flatten it out.
STEP 7: Slowly lift screen up from felt, paper should stick to felt sheet. Place another piece of felt on top of the paper like a sandwich. You can continue to layer paper/felt/paper/felt as many times as you like.
STEP 8: Let paper dry overnight, I removed the top felt pieces to speed things up, but if you do that, you may need to lightly iron the paper through a dish towel to flatten it out.
STEP 9: Paint or decorate! We wrote our Mandarin numbers on our handmade paper!
Click here to see the rest of our China Activities!
Click here to learn more about the Expedition Earth Geography curriculum!
My little ones love the papermaking! I've never done it by placing the paper between felt sheets, We will have to try it out next time. I make our project last longer with all of the pulping done by hand, and I love to add petals, scraps of colored papers, seeds, etc. Looks like fun! http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2010/07/recycled-paper.html
Our preschooler and I hope to make paper sprinkled with seeds for gifts. But just the excitement of making her own paper will be a treat.
You made that look easy! I have a bag of paper scraps waiting for us to try this, but I have always thought it would be hard! You have given me hope that we might actually be able to do it!
Very cool!!!
that is so neat!i saw this today and thought of you–you probably know about it and have something planned, but just in case I thought i'd send you the link:http://secretsofasupermommy.blogspot.com/2010/09/super-mommy-secretchinese-moon-festival.html*kelly
Cool! Thanks for sharing!
Oh wow I have been wanting to make some homemade paper with Emily now I am totally motivated!! Thanks for the great directions :0)
We just made recycled paper last Friday, but this looks amazing. KarenSippy Cup Central Mom
does this project ruin your blender? we have a china unit study this year and this would be a great addition! 🙂
M: No it doesn't ruin the blender! I did swish most of the paper out before washing it out though, didn't want too much down my drain.