More Paper

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Just sharing some more paper: now with more happy orange!

Project 10/11/12+: Paper

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Materials:

• Scrap paper
• Water

The (basic) materials list is misleading. This project is the big one. I'm really enjoying it, so I'm staying on this one for the rest of the term.

If you've ever made paper, you know it's a fairly complicated process. I followed the instructions here, with a few differences:

• I did not have a blender. I tore my paper scraps up very small and soaked them in water for 2-3 days. To help stave off any mold, I added a few drops of essential oil to the mix. (My paper smells nice!)
• My screen is made out of a small picture frame. (Incidentally, I found out said frame was poorly glued together when it fell apart upon immersion in the paper slurry. Now it's held intact by pushpins.)
• Some of my felts are made out of left over t-shirt material from my earlier projects; some are pieces of a ShamWow. I like the ShamWow felts better because they are very absorbent.
• I used a ShamWow piece instead of a sponge. (Hey, I worked with what I had.)

After what seemed like forever ripping up and soaking bits of paper (FOREVER, I tell you; for two weeks I was shredding sheets of paper while watching movies with my friends), I covered my dorm room desk with a trash bag and came up with this:


My batches were limited by the number of felts I had. (I've since purchased some cheap fabric to make more.)

For the second batch, I sandwiched the paper between a few sheets of plastic to be pressed and dried:


I don't like the texture; it's weirdly smooth (minus the bubbles) for handmade paper. The grain created from the screen and felts seems more natural:



I sprinkled some flower seeds into the next batch; after the paper is used, it can be buried and it will grow:


If I do that again, I'll buy some more attractive seeds. The ones I had just look like bits of fly poop.

My last batch had a little bit of glitter in it (not too much, I didn't want it to look like Lisa Frank vomited on it or something):



More paper on the way!

Project 9: Jewelry/Accessory Organizer

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(Excuse my hula hoop; space is tight in a dormitory.)

Materials:

• 1/2 inch wire mesh
• Molding hooks
• Open S hooks

I really, really needed this. If you saw the sad state of my jewelry collection before this, you would understand. Having all my accessories out in the open forces me to keep them neat, and it's helpful to be able to look at everything I own at once when accessorizing an outfit.

This is so easy: just purchase some mesh at the hardware store (watch out, the edges can be sharp), hang it on the wall, and hang all your stuff on it. Necklaces and bracelets are hung by open S hooks, but you can hang earrings and pins by simply sticking them through.

The most difficult part of this project was probably untangling all of my necklaces, if you don't include losing a few small bits of metal clippings in my carpet and potentially getting one stuck in my foot later. (Eeek, I should vacuum.)

Project 8: Lightning T-Shirt

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Materials:

• T-shirt
• Acrylic paint
• Fabric medium

I'm somewhat obsessed with lightning motifs. The design for this shirt has been in my head for a while; I knew it was more suited for a DIY project then to waste my time looking for a version for sale.

It was fairly simple – I marked off the shape in masked tape, mixed the paint and medium, and went at it. After it was all dry, I hand washed the shirt, roughing it up a bit in the water to eliminate some of the paint's stiffness.

The pictures don't pick it up well, but the blue has some silver mixed in for a sparkly metallic finish. I also like the irregularities in paint color and line. I'm all about the irregularities.

Project 7: T-Shirt Necklace 2.0

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Materials:

• 2 t-shirts

That's right, I made another one. This t-shirt necklace is fuller and much more interesting. I like the color combination a lot too; it goes with my hair!

So you can reproduce the results, I will provide an addendum to the tutorial I previously posted:

Step 6.1: Repeat steps 1-6 with another t-shirt.
Step 6.2: Select three loops and cut each of them. You should now have three long strips of fabric.
Step 6.3: Tie (or sew) these strips together at one end. Braid them together, stretching the braid as you go so it doesn't end up way shorter than the loose loops. Tie/sew together the other end.
Step 6.4: Tie/sew the ends of the braided section together.
Step 6.5: Repeat steps 6.1-6.4 until you have the desired amount of braided strips.
When you reach step 7, gather both the plain and braided loops. When you tie them together, make sure the strip covers the tied/sewn ends of the braid.

Pretty!

Project 6: Jar of Paper Stars

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Materials:

• Paper
• Jar

You can find a tutorial to make these by searching on Google, but I learned how by dissecting one a friend made me. I cut the paper strips by hand and paper cutter, much cheaper than buying star paper (it's usually imported and pretty expensive.)

At first folding these a little difficult (I had a number of them that wouldn't puff out) but I quickly got the hang of it. Warning – these things are addictive! If only there was a practical use for them...

With flash

So cute!

Project 5: Hollow Book

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What do we have here? It appears to be an ordinary book:

A dirty, beat up book.


But wait!


Materials:

• Hardcover book
• Glue
• Acrylic paint
• Tea

It's one of those exciting secret hollowed-out book. Look at all my exotic contraband:


Yes, that is an Altoids tin, a package of candy cigarettes, an Exacto knife, a tube of peanut butter, and army men. Why do you ask? I am clearly a sexy and mysterious person.

After I hollowed out the book (following this tutorial) I painted the inner cavity to make it look more finished. It doesn't turn out well in photos, it just ends up looking like a black void:


After the hollowing and painting, I decided that a brand-new looking hollow book was not nearly as exciting as an old one. I used various methods to get the effect above, including sanding, filing, washes of acrylic paint, and tea staining.

Funny story about the tea staining (and a bit of a failure on my part): I like tea staining paper with loose tea leaves because once brushed off, they leave a cool speckled effect. However, I applied the leaves over the glued-together edges of the pages, and now they won't come off:


Oh well. It still looks kind of cool, ne?