- 1). Place the wooden picture frame on a flat surface with the front facing the table. Remove any wire, plastic or other pieces for hanging the frame. Take off the backing paper and glass and dispose of it. You will not need it for the paper making process. Lay the piece of screen wire on top of the back of the frame. Line up the edges and staple the wire onto the frame. Make sure it is tight, not drooping into the center. This makes your paper mold.
- 2). Gather a bunch of old paper together. Any color or assortment of colors of paper is fine. Extra colors add interest to artisan paper. Tear the paper into pieces that are 1/2-inch squares. Place the paper into a container and cover with warm water. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
- 3). Put the pasta strainer into a second container and set it aside. The paper pulp is poured into the strainer after processing.
- 4). Get a blender. The blender can't be used for food after making paper. The paper never comes all the way out of the blender. Grab a handful of paper that is sitting in warm water and put it in the blender. Add a second handful and fill the blender 3/4 full with water. Turn the blender on the puree setting and let it blend for one minute. Stop it and look inside. If the mixture is thick, add more water. Blend for one more minute and pour it into the pasta strainer.
- 5). Pull a handful of dryer lint into small chunks and put them in the blender. Add the paper from the strainer and add the water from the container. Blend the paper for one minute and strain it in the pasta strainer. Fabric fibers strengthen handmade paper, so add lint or cotton linter. Cotton linter is a paper making material. It is ground cotton made into paper sheets. You tear them up and add them to the blender just like paper.
- 6). Place a 12-by-14-inch piece of felt on the table in a dry area. This is for couching the paper. In papermaking, the word couch isn't pronounced like a couch in the living room; instead it sounds like "cooch."
- 7). Fill the empty plastic container half full of water. Take one large handful of ground paper, put it in the water and swirl the paper around. Pick up the picture frame with the wire facing up. Slide it under the water and lift it up. Paper gathers on top of the wire and the water drains out the wire screen. If it is too thin, pull off the paper and put it back into the water. Add another handful of paper, swirl it around and dip the paper making mold.
- 8). Flip the mold over onto the felt. Use a sponge and gently press out some of the water. Squeeze excess water into the container you strained the paper into. This is a very wet process. Lift the mold and lay a second sheet of felt on top. Press with the sponge, removing excess water. Remove the top layer of felt and place the paper somewhere flat for drying. When it's dry, its ready for use.
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