Art Projects

Paper Making – the easy way 

You will need: 

1. Roller paint tray liners – Home Depot or maybe Fred Meyer Kids divided plates –  Meyer – I bought mine last year for $.99 Plastic cross stitch screen – Michael’s or JoAnn fabrics or maybe Fred Meyer (2 per set up) 
2. Wide mouth plastic water bottles – Fred Meyer – Old peanut butter jars or similar would work too. 
3. Cookie cutters – plastic & stainless-steel work best, but galvanized are fine, if you dry them.
4. Sponges – Fred Meyer Pot scrapers – 
5. Fred Meyer Cheap Toilet Paper - Trader Joe’s or Kroger brand work well. If the package says septic safe, it usually works well.  Glitter Newspaper 
6. For coloring I use Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay India Ink ½ a bottle poured in a small spray bottle then filled with water – I get the ink and bottles at Columbia Art Supply on Burnside 
7. The trays come in pack of ten so I usually use them doubled up. I have used the same ones for two years with no holes. 

Instructions: 

In a tray put the divided plate upside down. On top of that goes one screen. On top of that goes the cookie cutter. In the water bottle put about 12 oz of water add 10 squares of double ply or 18 square of single ply TP. Adjust it for preferable thickness depending on size of cookie cutter.

Add glitter. Screw on lid. Shake until dissolved.

Hold onto cookie cutter and pour the water/TP/glitter mix in cookie cutter. Excess water will drain out the bottom.

When most of the water has drained, pick up the cookie cutter, then place the other screen on top. With a flat hand, press on the top screen removing more water. Press a sponge on the screen, squeezing the sponge a couple times until you are no longer removing much water.

Remove top screen. Flip bottom screen with wet paper attached onto a piece of newspaper folded in quarter. Leave screen on top.

Scrape pot scraper across screen removing even more water.

Peel up screen. Spray with color.

Let dry. Or you can call Lisa Wilcke | lisawilcke@gmail.com | Talk About Trees |2017

I recommend doing this with about 6 kids at a time. If you have them in pairs, one holding the cookie cutter, while the other pours, then switching you only need three cookie cutters, which can be spendy and it is hard to find 6 of any single kind.