I wanted to try making plantable paper for Imbolc. I have a papermaking kit I got at the thrift store last fall but I never seemed to have the time to use it. The other day I noticed the stores have started getting seeds in for spring, so I thought it might be fun to try making plantable paper. I bought a couple packets of forget-me-nots. This evening (if 2am can be called evening) I tried it. Since I couldn't dry the paper with the iron per the directions (I was afraid it would kill the seeds), I've got it laying out on some fabric. I wont really find out until tomorrow if it worked.
The things I learned tonight -
- papermaking is a lot harder (and messier) than I thought
- I probably shouldn't do projects that require the blender to run for long periods of time at night
- honey does not like being woken up by the blender in the middle of the night
- forget-me-not seeds are bigger than I thought
- I can mess up the kitchen a lot quicker than I can clean it up :) (actually I pretty much already knew that one)
The things I learned tonight -
- papermaking is a lot harder (and messier) than I thought
- I probably shouldn't do projects that require the blender to run for long periods of time at night
- honey does not like being woken up by the blender in the middle of the night
- forget-me-not seeds are bigger than I thought
- I can mess up the kitchen a lot quicker than I can clean it up :) (actually I pretty much already knew that one)
All the paraphernalia associated with making paper. This was the point in the night when I figured out it was going to be messier than I expected.
A sheet of paper with forget-me-not seeds in it. It's still pertty damp but hopefully it will dry.
in my first year of art school we did a paper sculptures using plaster molds. It was very very very messy but the plaster sucked all the moisture from the paper fairly quickly. This might work for plant-able paper as the ironing of hand molded paper is really just to make it easier to write or draw on your paper, this won't be an issue with paper that will be planted.
ReplyDeletelet me know if you'd like more information about making a mold and I can send you some links and some instructions
Thats so cool. I have seen the plantable paper before but never thought about actually making it. I hope it dries well!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea TCM. The paper actually dried better than I expected. The final product was a little bumpy but very pretty. I wrote on it with marker instead of a pen so the bumpyness didn't really matter.
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