Craft de Jour

Other than painting, the kids haven't had much of a creative outlet lately. But this weekend with Travis gone, and Olivia's stomach bug forcing us stay in all day Sunday, we had to do something. Luckily I had just scored a paper-making kit from Goodwill for $3, a great deal compared to what they sell them for at Michaels.

And what can be more fun than ripping up paper and throwing it in the blender?



Then you put it in the mold. This particular color combination looked a bit too much like the aforementioned vomit. Ug.



Aren't they working together well squeezing the excess water out of the mold? Not really any big messes or anything, which is miraculous in itself.



Now our 4 pieces are drying in the sun. I think this pink/red one turned out the best. Perfect for gift bag tags and such.



Overall, it was fun, and I think we'll try it again. A few things of note...
The more you blend and add things, it just looks more grey. Less is more. I had visions of using old Trader Joes brown paper bags to make cute, rustic, brown paper. But apparently that will take more practice.

Also, this is not something you do because you want to reduce waste because you end up throwing away more paper towels than the amount of reused paper. I guess to be truly "green" in this pursuit you'd have to use lots of clean clothe towels instead. But for saving money on the fancy papers at Michaels, I believe it's a success. We will be experimenting with glitter, flower petals, and other add-ins eventually.