Recycling Mail

Shortly after gesso-ing a bunch of old newspaper for a handmade book and reminding myself in yet another way that I enjoy using recycled materials (or just straight trash) for projects, I decided I wanted to try making paper next – from mail that I’d usually toss into the recycling bin. I haven’t made paper since high school and I’m not convinced I did it very well, but it was good fun. (I found a really nice how-to guide from Paperslurry that made a great refresher.)

This particular stack of paper was made from a ripped-up Science & Surplus catalog – it’s printed on newsprint-thin grey paper and this one had bright pink headers on each page. I left some of the pulp pieces bigger so you can still pick out some wording and pink chunks.

After couching, the paper was slapped onto a large window to dry 👇 Peeling it off was oh-so-satisfying.

I’m not sure how the paper is going to be used, but it’ll be nice to have on hand for future projects. And I already have a baggie of dried hydrangea petals for adding to the next round of paper-making…