>Home>Craft Ideas>Paper Crafts>Paper Making

Paper Making

Use Traditional Paper Making Processes to Recycle Your Waste Paper

History of Paper

The word paper comes from papyrus the material the ancient Egyptians used for writing. Papyrus was a parchment like paper made of woven reeds. This material was also used by the Romans and Greeks.

Around 105 A.D. the Chinese began making paper from cotton rags, using a technique similar to the one in use today. Because there were not enough rags available, inventors discovered that other materials could be used, like tree bark and other plants.

Whatever was used had to be high in cellulose, the substance that actually creates the paper. It was soon discovered that trees were an excellent source of this material.

Paper was basically hand made for thousands of years. It was cherished and guarded by those that had it. Many feel that the scarcity of paper inhibited the spread of education and conversely, when it became cheaper and more widespread, it allowed the masses to learn.

Gradually the secret of paper making spread through Asia and Europe, but paper was considered a luxury until the 19th Century, when steam-driven paper making machines were invented.

The Paper Making Process

Paper can be made from fabric rags or a variety of plant materials. Wood is the most popular because of its high concentration of cellulose, the fiber that is the basis of paper.

The material to be used is ground up and mixed with water. Sometimes caustic or other harsh chemicals are used to aide in the breakdown of the wood and its separation into fibers. The resulting “slurry” is then placed on screens, compressed and dried into sheets.

Modern papers are treated with clays and other materials to make them whiter and to make printing or writing on them easier.

Making Your Own Paper

It is easy and fun to make your own paper, recycling papers that would otherwise go in the trash. Newsprint, tissue, wrapping paper and even junk mail can be recycled.

Depending on the type and look you are trying to achieve, you can mix and match various types of waste paper. You can control the color by segregating scraps by color. You control weight by the amount of water used as well as by the weight of the papers you input into the process.

No harsh chemicals are needed because the fibers are already broken down into paper form. You need just to shred the waste paper, mix it with water (boiling may be necessary with heavy duty paper or cardboard) to create the slurry, collect it on a mesh and dry it.

You can make your own equipment or purchase it in kits, such as My Paper Factory . This kit provides all the supplies and tools necessary for paper making, including an easy to use instruction booklet, a plastic basin, a paper making tray, two screens, two boards, construction paper, six poster paints, wooden beads, ribbons, and other accessories.

While the paper is still a slurry, you can add embellishments such as leaves or flower petals. There is even a way to laminate such things into the paper itself.

For specific instructions on making original papers, I recommend two books,

The Papermaker's Companion: The Ultimate Guide to Making And Using Handmade Paper
By: Helen Hiebert and The Art of Papermaking
By: Bernard Toale

Uses for Handmade Papers

Scrapbooking, book and card making are very popular crafts. To give the project the right artistic touch, the proper paper must be used. The papers you make tend to have a rough surface and can be colored just about any way you want. With ragged edges and embellishments, you can be sure that no one else on the block can duplicate your creativity.

Of course you can buy exotic papers at craft stores and online at websites such as, Paper.com. But when you make your own, you can be doubly proud, not only of the design of the finished product, but also of the texture and color of the paper itself.

  | Top | Paper Crafts | Crafts | Home |