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    Home » DIY Projects

    How to Make Handmade Paper

    by Patti Estep · Aug 13, 2024

    Jump to How-to Card
    Pressed flower lying on a piece of handmade paper.
    Close up of a sheet of handmade paper with dried roses sprinkled on.

    Learn how to make handmade paper with scrap paper and a few pressed or dried flowers to create an extra bit of natural beauty.

    Stack of handmade flower paper

    I've always wanted to make my own handmade paper with real plant material. However, after researching the process, I decided to take an easier approach and make handmade paper with pressed flowers using household paper waste.

    The process is simple. The first batch I made was just okay but the second time was much better.

    dried flowers on a paper towel

    Supplies

    • Scrap paper, small pieces of torn paper, shredded paper, or old newspaper.
    • Pressed leaves, herbs, flowers, dried flower petals and buds
    • Large plastic bowl
    • Large plastic bin
    • 2 - 8 x 10 picture frames
    • Piece of fine mesh screening material to cover one frame
    • Old towels
    • Sponge or absorbent towel
    • Old blender or chopper

    Making Handmade Paper

    Step 1 - Gather and Prepare Paper Scraps

    First, put your paper scraps or torn pieces of paper into a large bowl add hot water to cover, and let it sit.

    The first time I used copy paper from the trash and junk mail. Then I remembered that my husband uses a shredder in his office and that paper worked much better because they were much smaller pieces and saved me the time it took to tear or cut the paper.

    Screen for handmade paper

    Step 2 - Make a Deckle and Mold

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    Staple the screen material to the smooth side of each frame. This will act as a deckle.

    Place the second frame on top. I bought these two from the dollar store and they worked great. You can use old frames from your home or try looking for some from a thrift store like Goodwill. 

    Tip: Some people also use old pantyhose instead of screening material.

    Plastic tug with water

    Step 3 - Prep a Tub for Pulp

    Fill up a large plastic bin about 1/3 with water. This tub was really big. I could have used one much smaller. 

    Paper pulp in blender

    Step 4 - Create Paper Pulp

    Make paper pulp by blending the soaked paper and water in a blender or some other chopping instrument. 

    paper pulp on screen

    Step 5 - Dip Frames into The Pulp Slurry

    Pour the pulp mixture into the large container and mix around with your hands. Then dip the frames in at an angle to scoop up the slurry pulp.

    Dried flowers on paper pulp

    Hold the frames under the water with one hand and lay the pressed flowers and dried flowers on top with the other. Then with both hands move the frames around a bit to thoroughly coat the frames, and use your hand gently over the pressed flowers.

    Step 6 - Lift and Remove Frames

    Lift the frames out of the water and tilt slightly to drain as much water as possible. Remove the top frame and gently place a cloth on top of the paper.

    Handmade paper frame with pulp on cloth

    Then carefully flip it over and place it on the counter.

    Cloth on frame to absorb moisture

    Step 7 - Blot Off Extra Water

    Using a rolled-up absorbent towel or sponge gently press on the screen and soak up as much excess water as you can. Wring out the towel into the pulp container and repeat.

    Fresh handmade paper pulp drying on a cloth

    Step 8 - Remove Screen and Air Dry

    Gently remove the screen and let it dry. The first batch dried naturally overnight but then when I made a second batch I used a hairdryer to speed up time.

    Green tinted handmade paper

    The Results

    The first batch looked pretty gray when wet and the second was a greenish-blue color.

    Handmade pressed flower paper

    However, they both dried a lot lighter. The picture above shows the first batch where I used only copy paper and it turned out really white. The rosebud flower petals bunched up to one end. 

    Homemade paper with ferns

    I found that placing the ferns by hand resulted in a much better look.

    Handmade pressed flower paper

    This is definitely something I would want to try again. Maybe next time I would consider adding food coloring, flower seeds, or glitter for decoration.

    Although this homemade paper is not great for writing on, it would make beautiful gift tags, cards, and backing paper for vellum shower or wedding invitations.

    Patti signature

    More Flower Crafts

    • 9 Pressed Flower Ideas
    • Flower Pounding
    • Nature Weaving
    • Pressed Flower Handmade Tray
    • Pressed Flower Waxed Sachets
    Handmade pressed flower paper
    Print
    4.17 from 6 votes

    Handmade Paper with Pressed Flowers

    Learn how to make beautiful handmade paper with pressed flowers using household scrap paper.
    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Active Time1 hour hr
    Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Course: Flower Crafts/Decor
    Yield: 1 Handmade Paper
    Author: Patti Estep
    Cost: $15

    Equipment

    • Old blender or chopper

    Materials

    • Scrap paper, small pieces of torn paper, shredded paper, or old newspaper.
    • Pressed leaves, herbs, flowers, dried flower petals and buds.
    • Large plastic bowl
    • Large plastic bin
    • 2 - 8 x 10 picture frames
    • Piece of screening material
    • Old towels
    • Sponge or absorbent towel

    Instructions

    • Put your paper scraps into a large bowl.
    • Add hot water to cover, and let it sit.
    • Staple the screen material to the smooth side of each frame.
    • Place the second frame on top.
    • Fill up a large plastic bin about 1/3 with water. 
    • Make pulp by blending the soaked paper and water in a blender, or some other chopping instrument. 
    • Pour the pulp into the large container and mix around with your hands. 
    • Dip the frames in at an angle to scoop up the pulp.
    • Hold the frames under water with one hand and lay the pressed flowers on top with the other.
    • With both hands move the frames around a bit to thoroughly coat the frames.
    • Use your hand to gently press the flowers.
    • Lift the frames out of the water and tilt slightly to drain as much water as possible.
    • Remove the top frame and gently place a cloth on top of the paper.  
    • Flip it over and place on the counter.  
    • Gently press on the screen and soak up as much water as you can.
    • Wring out the towel into the pulp container and repeat.
    • Remove the screen and let dry.

    Notes

    You can also try adding flower seeds instead or in addition to the flowers to create seed paper.
    Tried this project?Tag @hearthnvine on Instagram
    Small stack of handmade paper with bits of flowers embedded.

    « Create a Living Centerpiece
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    About Patti Estep

    Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Loraine Mohar

      April 27, 2021 at 8:52 am

      Hi Patti! This is amazingly beautiful! I was wondering, I'm a collage artist and considering making my own paper to glue my work onto.

      Do you think a glue stick would stick to this kind of paper?

      All the best!

      Loraine

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        April 27, 2021 at 10:03 am

        Loraine, I think it might. You may want to press it down first with some heavy books to flatten it. Let me know how it turns out.

        Reply
        • Loraine Mohar

          April 27, 2021 at 11:51 am

          Thanks for your quick reply Patti! I will give it a shot and report back 🙂

    2. Bernie

      May 26, 2020 at 4:10 am

      Hi, I can't seem to get an even layer of pulp when placing the flowers on the frame as they just float up. Hence when I start to move it around, the pulp gets uneven. Any idea how to solve this problem? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        May 26, 2020 at 6:16 am

        Bernie, one thing that worked well for me was adding a few additional flowers on top at the end by hand. 

        Reply
    3. Kate Supino

      January 03, 2019 at 2:03 pm

      Very pretty. Thanks for the post, Patti.

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        January 04, 2019 at 7:14 am

        So glad you like it Kate!

        Reply
    4. Annie Glacken

      March 06, 2018 at 9:46 pm

      I have a question. If you want to use handmade paper that has flower inclusions to cover book board for a journal, should you seal it with so,ething somthe flowers don't rub off?

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        March 07, 2018 at 6:31 am

        Hi Annie,

        I'm sorry but I have never done this. You might try a spray on polyurethane but I don't think it will add the protection you need.

        Another idea would be to find some kind of transparent cover to place on top of the flower paper.

        Reply
      • Roshan

        April 23, 2018 at 5:44 am

        You could cover it with a very thin almost translucent layer of pulp

        Reply
    5. Sabina

      January 30, 2018 at 7:29 am

      Hi and thanks for this post!

      Question - do your flowers bleed onto the handmade paper while drying? (leaving stains in the respective color - e.g. yellow flowers stain the paper in yellow). This happens to me especially when using larger pressed flowers/petals, not small chunks.

      If so, how do you avoid this? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        January 30, 2018 at 8:23 am

        Hi Sabina,

        I know what you mean. For me, some did bleed a little bit but it varied from flower to flower. I don't know what to say about how to prevent this, but you might be able to test them first by setting a flower on something like a white paper towel and misting it with water to see if the color bleeds.

        Reply
      • Roshan

        April 23, 2018 at 5:42 am

        You could soak the flowers in a mordant like alum , etc

        Reply
    6. bath sponges

      July 26, 2016 at 11:25 pm

      I don't even know the way I stopped up here, however I believed this post was once great.
      I don't understand who you are however definitely you're going to a famous blogger in the event you are
      not already. Cheers!

      Reply
    7. Vikki Yuen

      May 01, 2020 at 6:32 pm

      I have a question regarding making handmade paper with dried flowers in it. I've done it multiple times and the way I do it is, I put the flowers face down on my screen/ frame ( I actually use a plastic container/tray with holes in the bottom & sides instead of dunking the whole thing into a tub of water, I just spoon in the plastic tray with pulp that has the consistency of vegetable soup), then I let it dry in the sun. Each time the flowers never retain their color and it just turns brown, beside the luck I had with Dusty Miller ( don't lose color since it's white but it still turns the paper yellowish brown), I can't get the paper with flowers to look like what I was aiming for, something like this where the flower retains it's color and the paper doesn't brown at all.

      https://www.pinterest.com/pin/149252175138323336/

      or this
      https://www.pinterest.com/pin/366902700890740173/

      What has been your experience & what do you suggest? Thank you so much.

      Reply
    8. Patti Estep

      May 02, 2020 at 7:12 am

      Vikki, my experience is just what you see here. Some of the flowers did turn a little but not all. Maybe the sun is part of the problem. Also, consider trying adding the pressed flowers on top of the pulp.

      Reply
    9. Lydia

      November 14, 2020 at 11:15 am

      I had the same problem when I used dried flowers and paper scraps. Interesting enough the bleeding did not happen when I used purchased new tissue paper. But I like to recycle used materials. So I’d love to learn more about preventing this bleeding

      Reply
    10. Patti Estep

      November 14, 2020 at 11:55 am

      That is interesting about the tissue paper not bleeding Lydia. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. 40 Stunning Pressed Flower Art Ideas • Cool Crafts says:
      June 20, 2016 at 12:33 pm

      […] you know that you can make paper by hand, plus it can contain pretty pressed flowers? Garden Matter discovered this for herself so created this insightful […]

      Reply
    4.17 from 6 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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