Our current favourite lockdown activity is making notecards from our endless paper packaging waste. It's a purposeful yet relaxing activity for my creative kids... and never fails to keep them occupied for a solid 2 hours.
Coffee break coming up ☕️.
Whilst my girls love to make notecards, the creative possibilities are endless. A treasure map that has been hidden in a locked box on a deserted island for centuries! Bookmarks… heck, with so much lockdown time, your kids could write a book.
Here's what you'll need:
- Our Creative Kids Earth Craft Kit valued at $100.00 - Free when redeeming your Service NSW Creative Kids Voucher. Also available through our purchase page.
- Earth Craft kit includes:
- Flower press
- Paper making set
- Frame and deckle
- Water absorption felt
- Roller
- 500gm terracotta air drying clay
- 11 pce wooden clay modelling tool set
- Water
- Scrap Paper
- Plastic Storage Tub (we like to use a big tub and make loads of paper)
- Stick Blender
- Sponge
- Absorbent Material such as a towel or cloth (...seriously, where are ALL my tea towels 😤)
Method:
- Cut or tear your paper roughly into 2-3cm wide strips or squares
- Place your scrap pieces of paper in water and allow it to soak overnight. If you
- Place 1-2 cups of your soggy paper into your Beaker and fill it up with water
- Mix with your stick blender until it resembles pulp
- Fill your storage container with water. About ½ - ⅔ should do it
Now, for the fun part!
- Pour your pulp into the storage container. The paper pulp should be swimming around in the water. The more pulp in your water, the thicker your paper will be Stir your pulp
- Sit the frame, screen side up, and place the deckle on top
- Holding them together at a 45-degree angle, lower the Frame & Deckle to the bottom of the pulp and scoop upwards and out of the tub. There is a bit of a learning curve to getting an even spread of paper pulp, so try a few different scooping depths and angles.
- Shake the frame from side to side to get an even sheet of paper sludge, then allow the water drain to a drip out for a few moments.
Now it’s time to move the wet sheet from the frame to a flat dry surface. This will absorb any remaining moisture. Use an absorbent Material such as a tea towel, towel or cloth for this task.
- Sit the long edge of the Frame on the surface of your absorbent fabric and in one quick and smooth motion, place the frame face down.
- Place your felt on the mesh and gently use the roller to squeeze out excess water, slowly increasing your pressure.
- Carefully remove your frame and repeat the process until you have made the perfect amount of paper.
- Carefully take your cloth and lay it flat outside, hang on the line or over a chair. We use a clothes hanger in our sunroom so that the paper doesn’t blow around too much.
- Once your paper has dried on the cloth, carefully peel away the cloth. It might take a couple of days to dry, but don’t worry, all good things take time.
- Your paper won't be perfectly flat, but I quite like the handmade effect. If you do want perfectly flat paper, you can pop it under a chopping board or in between the pages of a book for a few hours.
You can use your Creative Kids Vouchers to attend Earth Craft Online Workshops