How to make paper out of anything you want

These are step-by-step instructions on how to make your own paper out of recycled and household materials.  The process was originally explored by Kevin in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's Curiosity Lab and Studio.

Children should work with a responsible adult to help you with your project!

Materials

•     Blender
•     Water
•     Sponge
•     Buckets
•     Screen (such as screen from an old screen door) or Fabric (water should be able to pass through the fabric easily)
•     (1) Old Picture Frame
•     Duct Tape
•     Material you want to make paper out of:  construction paper, tissue paper, egg cartons, etc. - experiment with different materials
•     Optional :        Sink or large pan, Food dye, Seeds, Glitter.... and anything else you want to add to your paper

Step 1: Creating your pulp

1. Tear your recycled paper (or whatever material you are using) into small pieces.

2. Add the pieces to the blender.

3.  Add water to the blender - two parts water for every one part of material; this measurement may differ depending on the material you use.

4. Blend until the mixture reaches an even consistency (you don’t want any large chunks).
Blending time will vary depending on the type of material you are using.

5. You now have paper pulp.  Pour the pulp into buckets (make sure to label them if you are trying out different materials).

6. Mix any optional materials (glitter, etc.) into the pulp.

Comments

[uberchel]

yeah even experts have time constraints, great cake anyway! http://ubermedia.ru/

[deo722559913]

Thanks for you article, but it seems a tedious proses but its worth it. I am Denis from Kenya in the East African region. I was just wondering, is there a way I can make the paper pure white! and is it possible to make toilet roll through this method! Another thing. can I use a plant like the water hyacinth, which is a menace in my lake, L.. Victoria and also can we use the rice husks (the remains from the rice when it is removed from the pod/cover not the stems)!

[ottotobey]

They're called a "G cramp" not a C clamp. Common mistake. :)

[sockless]

Is there any way to make the paper thinner?
Because most recycled paper seems to be really think, which makes it impractical to use as real paper.

[Children's Museum of Pittsburgh]

The only way I've heard of to get it thinner is to use large steel rollers. The paper we make is more for decoration. I've found that the thicker paper works well as book covers and as drink coasters.

[pie popper]

I don't get the water part, do you mean you just need twice as much water as paper?
Cool! I gonna try it... maybe. The only type of screen I have is tool .... :/

[Children's Museum of Pittsburgh]

The water to material ratio is always a little tough to figure out. You might have to try a few different variations till you find the right amounts of each thing to add. Just keep experimenting.

[scoochmaroo]

This looks great. I love making paper! Excellent job making it accessible to kids. I also loved putting fun teas and dried botanicals in my paper.

[Children's Museum of Pittsburgh]

That's funny about the dried botanicals. While I was taking the pictures featured in this post there was a whole tub full of paper pulp with dried flowers in it. I was going to take a picture but it looked kind of gross. The finished products that kids and their parents made turned out pretty cool though.

[scoochmaroo]

This looks great. I love making paper! Excellent job making it accessible to kids. I also loved putting fun teas and dried botanicals in my paper.