Inkling: recycled paper

Do you shred documents and junk mail? If so, that little bin under the shredder fills up pretty quickly. You can put the shreds in with the recycled trash, compost it or make new paper. I decided to make some new paper from paper mache pulp and use it to make tags.

To make paper from paper shreds you’ll need:

• Paper shreds or torn up paper
• Water
• Flour
• Sugar
• A large pot
• A rolling pin
• A strainer
• Parchment or wax paper

• Place your paper shreds in a pot of boiling water and let boil for an hour or so.
• Stir the paper every now and then and add more water if needed. Time saving option: soak your paper overnight in a bucket of water to eliminate the boiling step.
• Once the paper starts to get mushy; drain it in a large strainer. I used a wire strainer so the bits of paper wouldn’t fall through larger holes of a sieve.
• While the paper is cooling, make paper mache paste. Here’s the recipe:

Combine ½ cup flour and 2 cups cold water in a bowl.

Boil 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and add the flour and cold water mixture.

Bring to a boil again.

Remove from heat and add 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Let cool. The paste will thicken as it cools

• Squeeze your paper to remove as much water as possible. Slowly add the paper mache paste. You probably won’t need all the paste. Just enough to coat the paper.
• At this point, I added little cut up bits of colored tissue paper to jazz up my paper. Don’t boil the tissue paper with the shreds or it will just become part of the mush.
• Roll out your pulp between two pieces of parchment paper using a rolling pin.
• Try to get your paper fairly thin.
• Place on a cookie sheet or tray and let dry.

Once your paper is dry, cut them into desired shapes.

 

  

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