Seed Paper Recipe

During my mid-semester reviews, the idea of making my own seed paper was bounced around. I found an awesome recipe that I will be experimenting with.

Recipe:

1. Shred or tear up a bunch of paper. Scrap paper, old craft paper, anything without a glossy finish will work best. To get colored paper, add one sheet of shredded colored paper into the mix. Place paper in a big bowl or the sink and soak in warm water for 45 minutes to an hour. The paper should be soft and break apart easily at the end of the hour.
2. Scoop paper into a blender, filled about halfway full and scoop a cup or so of the water it was soaking in into the blender. Pulse a few times until you get a mushy pulp. Add more water as needed to get this consistency.
3. Pour pulp through a strainer to remove some of the moisture. Don’t squeeze it all out or your paper will not form together very well.
4. Add the seeds and dried flowers and gently mix. Flecks of interest in the paper. Good choices are flower mixes, like butterfly or bee blends that attract pollinators to the garden and produce a variety of flowers.
5. Set up a few towels on a flat surface where you can leave the paper for  day or more to dry. Dump the pulp out onto the towel and spread out, gently patting the paper. You can use a rolling pin to flatten the paper out a bit, but be gentle as to not crush the seeds or break the pulp. Leave undisturbed to dry.
6. Trace and cut out images out of the dry seed paper. Decorate as needed. Include instructions on how to plant the seed paper

Materials:

• 8-10 sheets of shredded paper

• preferred seeds

• 1 heaping tbsp dried lavender or other dried flowers/leaves

• old towels

• strainer/blender

• preferred stencils or cookie cutters

http://gardentherapy.ca/seed-paper-v-day-cards/