Our first Easter project :hand made paper with flower seeds

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance I hope you dance

Its busy here today, faxes are flying, emails are whizzing, typing typing typing... things to write, business to attend :)

I loved this little corner of Pretend Play. Such simple fun, a typewriter, a phone, a keyboard and a mouse. They have been very busy, working together. I am on the hunt now for some more old typewriters and the old style dial phones ( gosh, long time ago!) as my kids love buttons. Second hand shops are great for these kind of treasures... :) A hunting we will go!

Over the weekend, Jumeirah and I started on an Easter project. She wanted to make something for the kids in her class for Easter so we decided to bake some Egg shaped biscuits and make some cards. I suggested we make our own paper and did something really exciting and put some seeds in the paper so they can be planted and grow!! Wow did I make mum of the year with this idea:)

And so we began, tearing squares of paper to add to hot water in a bucket

mixing it around with our hands and then using the blender to make it into pulp





I seriously got addicted to plunging my hands into the pulp, its got a smooth and soft texture I could have happily played in all day. We then added flower seeds and gently mixed them through it.

Once the paper became completely gooifyied ( yes it is a word) we put into a sieve and squeezed the water out. I had read from Paintcutpaste that the paper they made was very crumbly and I wondered if it was because in this step the paper was completely water free when laid out to dry, causing none of it to stick together. So I didnt squeeze it until it was completely dry, just enough that it wasnt dripping but was a large ball of gloop :) ( I knew it would dry eventually) We lay it on top of a piece of felt on top of a towel and spread it out in a medium thin layer. This we left outside to dry.

It took about a day and a half to dry completely and was a bit crumbly around the edges. I cut it into egg shapes which held together pretty well. Jumeirah was amazed at how good they looked and set to decorating them and continued to turn them into cards for her friends.

The end result is really very effective. We put a label inside the card with instructions on what to do with the egg shape. hopefully some of the kids will do it :) I have secretly stashed my own leftovers to give to my three so they can see how it works for themselves.

What crafty things are you doing for Easter?

I have a whole stack of Eastery crafty things to do with my gang over the next few weeks.... be prepared for colour, glitter, cooking fun!!