Adventures in papermaking

Recently I realized our "to shred" pile was overflowing its container. So, Ranger and I had a shred party where we managed to shred about a quarter of it all before the machine started to jam. Ranger enjoyed handing me the paper, folding the paper, and watching the machine work.

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A few days later I opened up the blender and this box of paper making fun.

I wasn't quite sure why the pulp was spread on the frame while the frame was touching but not immersed in the water. I thought this would be a problem, holding the frame while Ranger spread the pulp. But he wanted nothing to do with the spreading of the pulp. (Problem solved!)

Instead he added red tissue to the unused pulp, turning everything pink. Which was a vast improvement to the grayish tone it originally had.

The final step of the instructions was to place carefully on your drying surface. I did not know what kind of surface I needed. And have limited counter space. I placed it on tin foil. For one piece I added some bits of tissue paper.

The tin foil didn't work as a drying surface. Even over night. Finally I put it between two paper towel sheets and put a heavy box on top. (Not pictured- paper towels and box)

The final result is a little too....stiff and somehow not flat. I did cut a squarish shape thinking I could use it as a card backing... But I think it is just not flat enough.

So, in short, we had fun and will try again with Google instructions. The kit worked by giving us the basic supplies, but fell short of the "voila," part of their slogan.