Paper Thick

Yesterday I finally tried something I've been wanting to do for awhile--make paper. The whole concept has been intriguing me for some time, so when I saw the Bill Nye Paper Recycling Kit in the clearance aisle at Walmart, well, I couldn't help myself.



I decided to recycle some of Wiggle Man's "art."



Step One: Rip everything to shreds (very therapeutic) and soak for at least two hours.











Step Two: Put the mushy paper in the mixer. Bill recommends adding gelatin to the water if you plan on writing on it.








Step Three: Give up on the hand mixer, and throw everything into the blender. (Seriously.) Also, add some food colouring, so the pulp changes from puke grey to puke green.

Step Four: Forget to take the picture of Step Four, which involves scooping pulp onto the mesh screen seen here, and gently moving it around under the water so the pulp spreads evenly. If you look carefully, you can see the heart shaped form that Bill provides, along with some other shapes if regular old rectangular paper doesn't quite do it for you.

Step Five: Cover the pulp and the mesh screen with one of these handy-dandy cloths, squeeze out excess water, flip over and peel off the mesh screen. Then put the cloth with the pulp on it onto the press. Cover with another handy-dandy cloth, put the top on the press, and tighten the nuts. Over tighten, so that the plastic snaps, rendering it unusable for future paper projects.

Step Six: Leave your very thick paper to dry. Apparently for much longer than the recommended 24 hours.

All sarcasm aside, I think it's a great project. Perhaps not as durable as I'd like, but for what I paid for it, I'm ok with it. I think Wiggle Man would probably love it if he were older.