DIY 365: Handmade Paper and Paper Pulp Molding

This is a great project to do with kids. In fact, I did it with my preschooler on one of the days that his brothers had school but he didn't. With three kids in school, we generate a LOT of scrap paper. Of course, handmade paper is super easy, but even easier is paper pulp molding.

Paper pulp stars on our handmade paper

We started out with several sheets of used notebook paper and a couple of sheets of used copy paper. Notice the bright blue sheet at the bottom. There's an important reason to include this one. It's what gives the finished product it's beautiful light blue color. The more vibrantly colored the paper you include, the more color your finished paper will have. And, of course, the more colored paper you include, the more intensely colored your finished paper will be.

Then we tore it into small bits. You could also use shredded paper. If you do, make sure you remove any plastic windows from envelopes (if you shred them).

Next we put it in the blender and let it soak for a few minutes, maybe 20 minutes. Then blend until you get a slurry. At this point you could add flower seeds, crushed flower petals, bits of fiber (e.g. yarn or finely snipped pieces of fabric). If you're making it just for molding, you could add glitter or bits of foil.

If you're making paper, put the slurry in a large pan and add water. Stir to combine. (If you're just molding the pulp, skip ahead.)

You'll need a screen of some sort to make the paper. I've seen mesh splatter screens suggested, but the ones I found were too big for my largest pan. Instead I used my makeshift screen from when I made paper years before: a large picture frame encased in pantyhose. Inelegant, but it works!

Slide the screen into the slurry mixture, then slowly bring it out, making sure you have a good layer of pulp on the screen. Place it on an absorbent towel. Place another towel on top of the pulp. Using a sponge, blot the top. The point is to remove as much water as possible. Peel the top towel off and set aside to dry. This is a good project to make in winter, when it's really dry, especially if you have a fireplace or wood stove that sucks even more moisture out of the air. It took about 6 hours for our paper to dry in front of the fireplace. I have seen suggested that if you're impatient, you could use a heat gun to speed drying, but seeing as how my screen was pantyhose (nylon) that might melt, I didn't think that would be a good idea.

There wasn't really enough pulp to make a second sheet of paper (nor did I have another screen), so we made paper pulp stars. If you thought making the paper was pretty easy - and it is - paper pulp molding is even easier. If you have leftover slurry, like we did, scoop some out in a mesh strainer and let it drain until it's thick, then put a small amount in a mold. We used a star-shaped candy mold, but you could also use fun-shaped ice cube trays. I once made a paper pulp wreath out of a gelatin mold container.

Just as with the handmade paper, place a towel on top and blot with a sponge. Fill with more pulp if needed, then blot again. When done, place in a safe place to dry.  When they're dry, pop them out of the mold.

You can use them to embellish scrap book pages or handmade cards, if you're so inclined. If you embed a string in them while you're molding them, you have a nifty garland with no sewing, threading or fuss.

DIY 365: Brown Paper Flowers

Fair warning, this is an image-heavy post.

In going through my crafting cabinet, I discovered a pile of brown paper. This was probably some that was crumpled up as padding in a package. It could have gone into recycling (and part of it may still - there's a lot of it), or it could become something beautiful.

From this:

to this:

I started out by gathering some circle templates. Okay, my templates were really a Danish cookie tin, a small coffee can and an empty vegetable can, but you know...

Then I traced the circles onto the brown paper.

Then I cut them out.

At first I was just going to use them as is, but the smooth edges just didn't look right to me. They didn't look "natural," so I got out my deckle edging scissors and snipped away.

The original directions I found called for folding, then rolling, then gluing folded circles onto the rolled paper, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't make it come out looking like a flower. It just looked like rolled-up paper.

I started playing around with shaping the whole pile of one size into a flower shape and realized it could work if they were attached in the middle. Out came the needle and thread and the first one was stitched together.

A word about sewing on paper. Be very, very careful. Unlike fabric, you can't sort of push the fibers back together to cover up a hole. Once you poke a hole, it's there forever. Tension can also be tricky, since if you pull too hard, you can tear the paper. Learn from my mistakes. Seriously.

After the circles were sewn together, I started scrunching up each layer.

I kept until all the layers were scrunched together.

Now, you may have figured out by now that I like options, so there are a couple of ways you could go with these. You could leave them all scrunched up, and you end up with a sort of rosebud-looking flower.

Or you could gently fold out the layers a little to get the pretty flower at the top of this post.

Another option is to attach a button in the center when you sew the circles together. Shank buttons work best, and it would be a great way to use all the odd-colored lone buttons in your button jar.

If, however, you decide to do the rosebud approach, you may wish to skip the button, since it won't be seen.

You remember I had three sizes of circles? Each circle yielded slightly different results. The two above were the smallest circle (the veggie can) and yielded flowers that fit nicely in the palm of my hand.

The middle-sized circles (the small coffee can) yielded flowers about the size of my palm.

This one incidentally also used smooth-edged circles. I got so caught up in making the flowers I forgot to deckle the edges!

The largest circle (the cookie tin) yielded a very large two-handed flower.

Of the three sizes, I think I prefer the small and medium sizes. I felt like the large size was difficult to get to look like anything other than a pile of wadded paper.

Stay tuned for what's next with these flowers!

DIY 365: Denim Trivet

Yesterday I shared part of one of my bigger projects. Today I'm sharing something related to another big project. I've been working on a denim quilt, using squares cut from jeans that my kids have worn out. A by-product of that is the seams. These are really sturdy seams, prime crafting material.

With this prime crafting material, I made a coiled trivet.

From a pile of denim seams,

came this:

 This is another really easy project. I simply started with one seam and coiled it around itself.

I fastened it with a couple of quick basting stitches, just to hold it together.

I kept adding seams until I had used all the seams that I had, which yielded a good-sized trivet. To attach the final seam at the end, I used considerably more stitches to make sure it's secure.

You could also use a smaller version of this (fewer seams) to make a coaster.

DIY 365: Broken Jewelry Rings

I'm posting a little late today, but I thought I would share something that can look really nice with minimal effort: upcycled rings.

Several years ago I scored a shoebox of broken jewelry at a garage sale. Some of it was in such poor condition that I suspect that there is very little that can be done with it. Some of the earrings looked nice, if a bit old-ladyish, but were missing mates. And were screw-backs. Or clip with the clips so badly corroded that I don't feel safe putting them anywhere near my sensitive ears.

There are several ways to re-purpose these mateless earrings. One could turn them into a brooch, make a pendant out of them, attach them to hair clips (that one's coming up!) or, my favorite, make rings.

This one started out as a pearl rosette clip earring with a very nasty back. Patina looks nice on some home decor, not on earrings.

To make the ring part, I used brass wire. I'm not sure of the size or even where I got it. Somehow it ended up in my stash.

The first task was to take that nasty back off the earring. I took the easy way out and used wire cutters.

At least that was the plan. In reality, it proved more difficult than I had first thought. I ended up basically scoring the back with the wire cutters, the bending it back and forth until it came apart.

Finally got that sucker off!

Next, I trimmed the wire to fit my finger and bent it into a ring shape. Unfortunately, I was concentrating on bending the wire and neglected to get a picture of this part.

Now, a word on putting rings together. There are a couple of ways to do it, depending on the equipment and materials you have and the time you have. For a longer-lasting ring, you would ideally want to solder the two parts together, as I did in this ring I made several years ago. (Okay, disclaimer, my husband did the actual soldering.)

Alas, I no longer have a soldering iron, so I had to go to Plan B: E-6000. This is an industrial strength adhesive. It's like super glue on steroids. If it absolutely has to be stuck together, this is your go-to.

For the ring, I put a decent-sized glob on the back of the former earring and pressed my wire ring into it.

Notice the newspaper under the ring. I strongly recommend you use protective covering for your work surface any time you're using industrial strength adhesive, especially if your work surface is the family dining table.

E-6000 does take some time to dry, so plan on coming up with a clever solution to hold the ring portion vertical or just use your fingers like I did. After a few minutes, it does firm up enough to stay upright as long as the ring is not tilted. Because this does take some time to dry, it's not a last-minute, I need a stunning cocktail ring for a party project. Unless you want the ring permanently attached to your finger.

Eventually, I will probably solder the wire ring onto the earring, but the E-6000 works for now.

Oh, and the soldered ring from several years ago? Here's what the top of it looks like. I love big statement rings!

Frog Ornament

After I made the sunflower ornament for DS#1's teacher, DS#2 wanted me to make an ornament for his teacher. He knew she likes frogs, so he asked for a frog ornament. I searched and searched the internet and could not find a pattern for a frog ornament. I figured I might as well take a shot at making my own. Rather than make a whole frog (I only had a week to make this), I decided to make a frog head. I borrowed an idea from a CD coaster I had crocheted, and decided to use a used canning lid to give the frog stability.

In retrospect, it would have been easier to attach the eyes and tongue and stitch the mouth before joining the front and back around the canning lid, so that is how I wrote the pattern. If you find any mistakes, please let me know, so I can correct them!

Materials:
Small amount of WW yarn in green, white and black
Small amount of sport or baby weight yarn in pink
Regular-mouth canning lid
F hook
D hook

Directions:

Front:
With green and F hook, ch 4, join to form loop.
Round 1: Sl st in loop. Ch 1. 11 sc in loop. Sl st in ch 1 to join. (12 sc)
Round 2: Ch 3. Dc in same st. *2 dc in next st. Rep from *. Sl st in top of ch 3 to join. (24 dc)
Round 3: Ch 3. Dc in same st. *2 dc in next st. Rep from *. Sl st in top of ch 3 to join. Fasten off. (48 dc)

Back:
Ch 4, join to form loop.
Round 1: Sl st in loop. Ch 1. 11 sc in loop. Sl st in ch 1 to join. (12 sc)
Round 2: Ch 3. Dc in same st. *2 dc in next st. Rep from *. Sl st in top of ch 3 to join. (24 dc)
Round 3: Ch 3. Dc in same st. *2 dc in next st. Rep from *. Sl st in top of ch 3 to join. Fasten off. (48 dc)

Eyes (make 2):
With black, ch 4, join to form loop.
Row 1: Sl st in loop. Ch 1. 6 sc in loop. Fasten off.
Row 2: Join white yarn with sl st. Ch 1. Sc in same st. *2 sc in next st. Rep from * to end. Fasten off.
Row 3: Join green yarn with sl st. Ch 1. *Sc in next st. Rep from * to end. Fasten off.

Tongue:
With pink and D hook, ch 5.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook. Sc in each ch to end, turn.
Rows 2-10: Ch 1. Sc in each st to end, turn.
Row 11: Ch 1. Sc tog first two st. Sc next two st, turn.
Row 12: Ch 1. Sc tog st. Fasten off.

Assembly:
With green yarn and working in back loops of last row, attach eyes to top edge of front with sl st.

With black yarn, sl st around posts of 2nd round, joining starting ch of tongue, to form smile.

Attach a loop of green yarn to the back between the eyes to form hanger.

Sl st front and back together with green yarn. About halfway around, insert canning lid and continue to sl st around lid.

Sunflower Tape Core Ornament

I modified the Tape Core Wreath pattern to make a Christmas ornament for my oldest son’s teacher who likes sunflowers. The picture doesn't really show it very well, but the yellow part is ruffled.

Materials:
Small amount of ww yarn in bright yellow and brown
Tape core
F hook
Ribbon, embroidery floss or yarn for hanger

Stitches:
Ch=chain
Sl st=slip stitch
Sc=single crochet
Dc=double crochet

Directions:

With brown, ch 4, then join to form a loop.
Round 1: Sl st in loop, ch 1. 12 sc in loop. Sl st in ch 1. (12 sc).
Round 2: Hold circle formed in round 1 in center of tape core. All stitches should be stitched around tape core as well as in stitches of previous round. Ch 1. Sc in same st. *2 sc in next st. Rep from *. Join with sl st in ch 1. Fasten off. (24 sc).
Round 3: With yellow, join with sl st. Ch 3. 3 dc in same loop. *4 dc in next st. Rep from *. Join with sl st in ch 3. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

Patchwork Ornaments

Even younger children can make this easy ornament, and it takes under an hour to complete. When finished, it looks like it's quilted or patchwork.

Materials:

Scraps of at least 2 different fabrics

1 Styrofoam ball

Jute twine

1 upholstery tack

Popsicle stick

Bamboo barbecue skewer

Directions:

Begin by cutting your fabric into small pieces. Shapes don't matter so much. Take one piece to start and place it on the Styrofoam ball. Using the sharp end of the skewer, poke the edge of the fabric into the Styrofoam. Repeat with more fabric scraps until the ball is covered. When done, press the twine into the "seams" with the popsicle stick. You don't have to cover every seam--you don't even have to use the twine at all, but it does hide the seams and add a little charm. For finishing, make a hanging loop with the twine and use the upholstery tack to fasten it to the ornament. That's all there is to it!

There is a lot of room for variation in this. You can use whatever scraps of fabric you have to create different effects. It takes a very small amount of fabric. You could use decorative cording or pearl strands in place of the twine. You could even use shapes cut from packing foam (you know, those awkward pieces of Styrofoam that encase breakable items in their boxes).