When our first child was born we were so overwhelmed by all the trash that was generated from all the gifts he was given. We decided to save it all for some TBD purpose. We finally decided to make our own paper out of all the tags, boxes, wrapping, etc.Â
We started making the paper in November and turned it into photo albums for adults, journals for older kids and a storybook (which we also wrote and illustrated) for the younger kids. The only thing we purchased was string for binding and adhesive corner sticker things for the photos.Â
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Its really easy. You just soak the paper in water, blend it to make pulp. Get a big storage container and put the pulp with some water in it. I added dried petals and leaves from the flowers we received after the birth, too! You can add a little glue but we didn't, you also want to play with your paper colour mixtures so you get a colour that you like.. Then strain it through a fine screen (we built our own) - any Google search for make your own paper will walk you through it.Â
Then we used cardboard to create the covers - covered recycled cardboard with own homemade paper. And bound them with heavy string - we followed a google search for bookbinding!Â
Our son was born in March so we had a lot of paper waste by November - we stressed that people not buy him new things or really anything but you know how that goes!
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(we just had a second baby this past March and saved everything again. This year we're making papier mâché thumb pianos and  Ukeleles for the kids using old nails, found wood and elastics that we get on our fruits and vegetables! We make all of our gifts and have for years. I'm also crocheting fake fruits and veggies, making capes and papier mâché food for our two year old who is really into cooking. He is making all of our gifts for adults - we stretched some old drop clothes and had him paint them. Then we gave him some masking tape and let him stick pieces wherever, then a few days later gave him the canvases to paint again and then the tape again, over and over. It's just building layers of his expression from each session. When he's done we'll use the tape to create a monogram style letter of our families' last names and then let him paint them one last time. It's textured and fun but also very attractive art that our family members can really hang and use. I can post pictures when we're done. Sorry, we gave all the books away! So none of those!!)
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