Lesson IV Activity

Handmade Paper with Pressed Florals

I have to be honest, this was far and away my least successful craft from this course. I am hoping that with practice I could produce a slightly more professional product…but lets discuss that a little later on.

Pulp with dried plant material.

Today’s project calls for a bit of recycling. We’re going to create our own rustic paper, speckled with botanical bits for some extra herbal flare. To get started you’ll need paper (ideally used paper ready for the recycling bin), water, a blender, a mould and deckle, a sponge, towels, and several sheets of thin fabric.

1. Begin by placing a large plastic tub or box in front of you, and tear pieces of paper into small bits. Pour hot water over the paper and leave to soak overnight Try to ensure that the papers are of a similar weight for best results. I tried using plain printer paper along with scrap tracing paper and a thicker paper meant for watercolor painting. I had hoped that the diversity of paper used would would produce some interesting effects in the final product, but in reality the thicker paper never fully integrated with the rest of the paper used. It didn’t look artsy, it just looked amateur.

2. Once the paper has soaked, blend in small batches. The project instructions suggest using a dedicated blender for this project. Not wanting to procure a whole blender for a single project, I utilized the immersion blender I use for soap making. It took longer but eventually did the trick. Add dried plant matter at the very end, stirring instead of blending to incorporate without completely disintegrating the fragile flowers and leaves.

3. Set out a large container that can easily accommodate the mould and deckle. Fill 1/4 full with water. Pour blended pulp into the water and stir to combine. Hold the assembled mould and deckle together, and dip into the pulp mixture at a 45-degree angle. Lift upward, holding the mould and deckle horizontally. Allow excess water to drain over the container.

4. Place the mould over your strips of fabric, and press down gently with a wet sponge to dislodge the pulp from the mould. While the provided instructions suggest using sheets of paper, another tip I read during my research on paper making suggested using reusable strips of fabric. Using fabric reduces waste and makes it easier to remove the final dried project. Please make sure you use a very smooth fabric, as any texture will transfer to your project. I learned this the hard way when I used a heavily textured cabinet liner for my project and ended up with so much texture that the paper was nearly unusable.

5. Allow the new recycled paper to dry overnight. The instructions suggest using a paper towel to blot, which helps improve drying time. Wanting to avoid further texture transfer, I elected to place my recycled paper under several seed starting lamps I keep in my garage. This enabled me to have most of my new pieces of paper completely dry within 48 hours.

The finished product.

If I’m being honest, my end project wasn’t that great. I had difficulty controlling the density of the pulp, leading to tremendous variability in the thickness of my paper. Maybe it needed better blending, and it was almost certainly a product of user error. Still, I don’t feel like the paper produced justifies the work and time commitment (about 3-4 days from scrap paper to finished project) needed to complete this project. While I’m glad I tried this project, and it certainly provides a suitable medium for dried flower art, I don’t know if I’ll be repeating this anytime soon.