Paper Making
- Fill the Blender 2/3 with Lukewarm Water.
- Turn the Blender on low and drop in a handful of shredded paper strips.
- Turn the speed up a little and blend for 30-40 seconds until mixture is smooth.
- Take the Wire Screen and Stretch it tight over the wood frame and then staple the screen to the frame.
- Fill your wash basin about half way full with water.
- Dump 2 Blender Loads of Paper Pulp into the Mixture and Stir.
- Place the Wood/Screen into the basin and move the screen from side to side until the pulp is evenly on top of the screen.
- Lift the screen up out of the water. Keeping the screen level allow as much of the water to drip back into basin.
- After water has stopped dripping from the screen, place a towel or flannel blanket on top of the screen and then gently flip the screen over and place the screen, towel down on a counter.
- Use a sponge to blot dry the paper through the back of the screen. Wring the sponge back into the basin as needed.
- Gently lift of the frame. If the frame sticks to the paper you may need to use the sponge to remove more water.
- Place a Plastic Bag over the paper and carefully roll with a rolling pin.
- Dry the Sheets by lying them on newspapers and/or after they have dried a bit hang them on the clothesline.
- After dry peel of the towels and you have sheets of paper.
TIP - Add 2t of Liquid Starch to the Mixture is you are planning to use the paper for writing.
SUPPLY LIST
- Blender
- Lukewarm Water
- Wire Screens
- Towels
- Large Plastic Wash Basin
- Wood Frame (Old Picture Frame) - the size of the paper that you want to make, but will fit into the basin.
- Strips of Shredded Paper - Newspaper, Unused Computer Paper, Magazines, Paper Bags, Construction Paper or Napkins.
- Wood Frame (Old Picture Frame)
- Sponge
- Plastic Bags
- Rolling Pin
- Stapler
- Larger Wooden Spoon
- OPTIONAL - Liquid Starch
Sheet Duvet Cover
- Wash sheets if new
- Place the sheets top side facing each other and pin together one side of the sheet and the bottom.
- Sew up the one side and bottom with an 1 inch seam.
- Pin the last side - Sheets are often irregular in size so when pinning up the last side you may have to adjust your pins to even out the seam. Use a yard stick to keep the pins in line.
- Stich up the last side with an overall 1 inch seam
- Stich around all three sides just on the outside of your seam with a zigzag stich to minimize fraying.
- Turn Cover Right Side out
- At the top of the opened end of the cover, mark your button holes. In the center of the decorative border at the top of the sheet 6 inches from the side of the cover, mark a pencil line parellel to the edges of the top border. Make the line just a little longer than the length of your button.
- 6 inches down from the first line mark a second button hole line and so forth until yoou have marked lines across the entire top edge.
- If your sewing machine has a button hole attachment use that to sew the button holes, otherwise cut the sheets were the lines are marked and sew right on the edge of the button hole with a button hole stitch or small zigzag.
- Hand sew on the buttons. Position the button on the opposite sheet where the center of the button hole would fall.
- Put you comforter in the cover and button it up.
- Remove for the cover for easy care and laundering.
NOTE - Please refer to your sewing machine's owner's manual for general use and button hole sewing guidelines.
SUPPLY LIST
- 2 Flat Sheets - Both One Size Larger than Your Comforter
- Sewing Machine
- Straight Pins
- Large Buttons
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Thread and Needle
Simplified Candlemaking
- Clean Cartons and let dry.
- Tape one end of the wick to the bottom of the carton, tie the other end of the wick to a pencil and balance the pencil across the top of the carton.
- Place the wax in a boil-in bag and put the bag in a large saucepan almost full of water.
- Heat the water on low on a stove until the water boils and the wax in the bag has melted.
- Sprinkle the carton with glitter or other nonflammable items and then fill the carton with 2 inches of ice.
- Remove the bag from the water with oven mitts, open the bag just at one end and pour enough wax in the carton the cover the ice.
- Put 2 more inches of ice in the carton and any other nonflammable items and the pour in more wax. Repeat this process until the candle is the desired height.
- Let the wax completely harden - several hours.
- Carefully tear the carton sides away from the formed candle. Trim the wick to 1/4 inch above the candle.
CAUTION - Never heat wax directly in a pot. Use extreme caution when handling hot wax.
SUPPLY LIST
- Masking Tape
- Pencil
- Candle Wicks
- Paper Milk or Wax-Lined Ice Cream Cartons
- Candle Wax
- Boil-In Bags
- Old Large Saucepan
- Oven Mitts
- Water
- Chipped Ice
- Optonal - Glitter, Plastic Confetti, Shells or any other Nonflammable Items
Flavored Oils
- Thouroughly clean glass container to be used then sterlize by submerging in boiling water for a few minutes.
- Using the flat part on the knife slighty crush the garlic to release the flavor.
- Place the garlic and peppercorns in the clean glass container
- Pour the Olive Oil into the container and fill to the top and seal the lid tightly
- Place the bottled oil in a sunny window for 2 weeks.
- Shake the bottle everyday.
- After 2 weeks, strain the oil into a clean, sterilize, decorative glass bottle.
- If desired add new skinned garlic cloves for decoration and tightly seal the container.
- Decorate the outside of the bottle with raffia and a gift tag.
- Store in a cool, dark place.
- Shelf Life - 2 weeks - 1 Month
CAUTION - When preparing foods always use sanitized utensils and containers.
SUPPLY LIST
- Masking Tape
- Sterilized Glass Bottle with tightly fitting lids
- 16oz Pure Virgin Olive Oil
- Flavoring - 6 Skinned Garlic Cloves, 1 t Black Peppercorns
- Strainer
- Sterilized Decorative Bottle with tight lid
- Knife
- Optional - Additional Garlic
- Optional - Rafiia & Paper Tag
