How to make paper at home

Items needed:

– non-newspaper waste paper,

– cardboard,

– scissors,

– potato starch (cold starch),

– rolling pin,

– absorbent paper or cotton cloths,

– bowl, water,

– mixer or blender

– and optional plants or other items to decorate the paper.

Step-by-step process

1. Prepare scrap paper, preferably not newsprint. Paper from old notebooks or copier paper will work best! If you use unwritten parts of paper, the paper you make will be white.
2. Tear up or cut the scrap paper into small pieces. Place it in a bowl of hot water, preferably overnight, or speed up the soaking process by boiling it in water in a pot.
3. Cut a window in a thick piece of cardboard, matching the shape of the paper you want to achieve.
4. Grind the soaked paper with a mixer for several seconds, making sure the paper pieces are not visible. Add water to the grinding mixture; the mixture should not be too thick. Grind the paper in batches.
5. Add cold starch to the ground mixture. Lay down a layer of cardboard, then place the cardboard with the window you cut on top.
6. Pour the ground mixture into the window. Hold the cardboard firmly in place as you pour the mixed pulp. If you want to decorate the paper with plants or other thin decorative objects, now is the time to place them on the freshly poured paper surface. To help the objects blend better into the newly poured paper, gently pour the thinned pulp over them. You can also add smaller pieces directly to the pulp.
7. To squeeze out excess water, place an absorbent layer of cotton cloths or newspapers on the cardboard with the pulp.
8. Roll them over with a kitchen roller, being careful not to damage the surface of the paper.
9. Remove the cloth or newspaper from the surface of the paper. Once done, leave the paper to dry in a dry, well-ventilated place.