In 1963, my hubby lost his job. We had 3 young boys to raise and not many luxuries at that time. It was a struggle to say the least! He took on odd jobs to put food on our table. We were managing, but just barely. One day he came home with a package for me. Inside was a blender! This pleased me more than if it were diamonds ..."S" (He had worked extra to buy me something). Our luck took an upswing from that moment on. He was offered a wonderful job as Foreman for the Pennsylvania Department of Highways where he stayed for the next 30 years!!

Years later, I received a food processor for Christmas, and put the blender away. (Not being able to let go of it and the memories it held).

Then I got interested in paper crafting and remembered the blender. I could use this in my craft. Beautifully hand crafted paper items can be made inexpensively while having fun in the process.

HAND CRAFTED PAPER GIFTS

Fill your blender about 1/3 with water. Tear plain white paper towels into pieces and drop in the water. Put the lid on and blend well. It only takes seconds for the paper to blend with the water. I use a strainer (which I keep separate with my blender), and pour the water and paper through.... releasing the water and leaving pulp in the strainer.

I then use molds (angels of course) and press a bit of pulp into each mold. Use a sponge to blot the excess water, doing this over and over and squeezing the sponge in between blots. When the mold looks fairly dry, invert on a tray or flat surface to air dry. These can then be painted or left white...your choice. You can add a hanger of thin wire, or ribbon and glued to the back to hang. You can also use as a magnet by gluing on a magnet cut from a purchased strip. Another great use is to glue on a pin back and give as a lovely pin. Again, you can use other molds...there are so many on the market today... animals, toys, flowers, candy shapes, etc. to name a few. I also use chalk to color them at times. If you make a mistake, just drop it back in the water and blend again!

Another use for 'blended paper' is to make sheets of paper to craft with. Proceed as above using torn magazine pages, paper towels, or any paper medium. In this, you may use colored paper towels to give a little color to your finished product. (You may add pieces of thread, glitter, confetti, etc. and blend, or leave this out..just another option). (Using magazine sheets will make your paper colored, so keep that in mind). Continue as with the above instructions... only pour the pulp onto an old window screen and flatten it to a thin layer. Be SURE to hold the screen over your sink to drain the excess water. Blot as above, and when fairly dry... turn the sheet onto a paper towel on a flat surface to dry. This can be cut to the size needed.

One example of my first creation was:

The first Christmas after Melissa's death, I created one of these for each member of my family and her mother's family. I painted the star and halo gold and put an M in the center of the star (for Melissa). Of course, the eyes were blue as her's were. I then added stars to the bottom hanging them with gold ric rac. Each star had a name on it. The one above held Grandpa & Gram. There were sets for each family...with the stars graduated in sizes from Uncle, Aunt, cousin, etc. I even made them for her friends and for her devoted doctor and pharmacist.

Ours has hung on every tree since she left us... a reminder that she watches over all of us.

ENJOY!

Angel Hugz,

Gram

This Midi is: "Paper Doll"

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