Tutorial: Make your own paper and turn them into gift tags with seeds

Today's post has a crafty theme instead of a haby one.  I still have the girls at home on holidays so I did something that would include them too!

After posting my idea on The Haby Goddess facebook page last night about making my own handmade paper, the girls gave some great tips and idea's.  Lorelei suggested adding seeds & Mairi suggested making gift tags, so I combined both.

Items I used:

An embroidery hoop - a great option instead of a frame as many other tutorials state. But they are much smaller in size

A piece of fly wire - you can use sheer curtain fabric or something similar

A blender

Baking paper, paper towel, bowls

Scraps of paper - I used envelopes from today mail

Vegetable, flower or herb seeds

Rip paper into smallish bits in a large bowl

Tip a good amount of water over the water making sure it is well covered

Mash up the paper a bit with your hands

 Place mixture into blender and blend for a minute or so

Add fly wire to hoop or frame and make sure it is tight & taut.

Pour pulp mixture onto hoop - into a sink worked well

Spread it out so it is quite even - thicker is better when adding seeds

Top with a piece of baking paper and smooth out with your hands to push water through

When most of the water is gone, lift the baking paper off the hoop and the pulp should stick to the paper.

Sprinkle with seeds

Sponge paper with towel to remove excess water - this will also help push the seeds in a little

When it has started to dry a little, move to a rack so it can dry both sides.

When completely dry, cut into gift tags, add a hole punch & some string. Write your message on the reverse side.

Plant any left overs from the cut-offs in the garden - NO WASTE!! 

Some other tips I was given:

Egg cartons work well & add a splash of food colouring (Nic)

Can use a chux cloth instead of flywire (Cinti)

Avoid using glossy paper (Mairi)

Paper pulps best when has been soaked for several hours - you will receive a smoother finish (Rebekah)

It's messy but heaps of fun (Everyone!!!)

Plus a few extra tips from me - a hairdryer will speed up the drying process but turn your paper over as it may blow away any lose seeds. And finally, you will lose seeds the more you handle the paper so try to keep it to a minimum while putting gift tags together.  Best to add a few extra seeds at the beginning as you will definitely lose some.