Handmade Paper

We've been learning about ancient Egypt, and Jasper was really intrigued to learn that the Egyptians made a kind of paper out of papyrus reeds growing in the Nile.  (Most historians seem to agree that modern paper was invented by the Chinese. But it is from papyrus that we get our word "paper".)  I remembered making paper in college, and thought it sounded like a great  project we could do together. I borrowed about a dozen books from the library on papermaking, some which were aimed at kids, some at hobbyists, and some at adults starting small businesses.   I learned that making paper from scratch, using plants (irises make good candidates) is certainly possible, but every book I consulted said to start by boiling the plants with lye or soda ash.  So that process is definitely not the nontoxic approach I was looking for.  Recycling paper scraps to make handmade paper, however, is pretty straightforward.        I decided buying a kit would be simpler than making my own, and in fact it turned out to be easier to use than anything I would have made myself.  We used a papermaking kit I purchased at Art Media for $19.95 which makes 8 1/2" x 11" sheets.  Jasper helped me tear up scrap paper to toss in the blender, and made some embellishments with his paper punches.    I bought a plastic storage tub big enough to dip the papermaking frame into (one of those restaurant "bus tubs" would also be excellent).  Other than that, I didn't need to buy anything.  We found that papermaking is pretty simple!  The instructions that came with the kit sufficed, although many of the books offered great ideas for fun projects.  This is a craft with a lot of potential. We tried using a cookie cutter as a mold, and made a little star.