2008 Biennial: Paper PAPER MAKING Activities by Mary Erickson PhD and art teacher Karla Primosch.

Set up paper making area with pulp, paper making frames, and other supplies. You and your students can make your own pulp with a blender starting with recycled paper soaked in water.

Put pulp in a large shallow bucket, immerse frame, and gather the pulp on top of the frame. It is important to get the pulp plump and full of water.

Place fibrous materials on the screen before adding pulp… … or on top of the wet pulp.

Or you can combine everything together throughout the mixture.

Press the excess water out of the pulp. Make sure the frame is over the bucket when expressing the excess water with sponges.

After the students finish creating their paper, take the frame over to a table and using an absorbent cloth or felt, press down and remove more water. Flip the frame upside down on the absorbent cloth. Take another sheet of absorbent cloth and place it on the back side of the paper. Students may need to use a few pieces of cloth.

Sandwich paper between pieces of felt or heavy absorbent cloth before pressing.

Place the paper in a press or place heavy objects such as bricks on top of the paper and cloths to keep the stack flat until dry.