Things you will need:
For this activity you will need
1 plastic bowl with approx 1 cm of water
6 christmas cards
A rolling pin (or two if there are two of you doing the activity)
PVA glue
Food colouring
Glitter or sprinkles (optional)
A wire coat hanger
A popsock
A tray
A plastic bag
Some recycled paper kitchen towel
Method:
1. Tear the christmas cards into very small pieces ideally around 1cm square or less and put the pieces into the bowl of water.
2. When all the cards are torn, soak the card in the water for a few minutes. You can help it along by pushing it down with the rolling pin.
3. When the card starts to soften, bash the pieces with the rolling pin. The idea is to form a pulp. You can explain how paper is made from trees that is formed into a pulp.
4. When you have a mushy mixture (this can take a quite a few minutes of bashing) then drain off any excess water.
5. Mix in approx two tablespoons of PVA glue and stir
6. Add some food colouring and stir and if you like add some sprinkles or glitter.
7. Prepare a wire coat hanger by pulling out from the middle of the long straight part to form a square. Place a popsock over the top to form a mesh for your pulp.
8. Lay the plastic bag on the tray and 3 pieces of kitchen towl on top. Place your popsock device on top of the kitchen towel.
9. Spoon the mixture on top of the popsock mesh and place 3 more pieces of kitchen towel on top.
10. With the rolling pin, roll out the pulp / sloppy paper mixture until it is flat.
11. Leave to dry for appro x 3 days. When dry, your card will be ready to use in your creations.
Have fun!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] In this weeks episode we get festive and ethical. We show you how to recycle last years Christmas cards into hand-made card. All you need is a pop sock, a pair of ear muffs, some slop and you are sorted. Well almost. It’s fun, a bit noisy and educational. Watch for Lily-Mai discretely exiting midway through the activity she’s brilliant. Here are printable instructions to make recycled card. [...]