One thing that I always felt was left out of most books on the topic of Origami, was how to make paper. It is easy enough to buy paper, but honestly the process of creating it from scrap paper is very fun, and can be messy. Since I'm always game to make a mess, I thought we could go through this activity together. You will need some scrap paper, two bowls (or trays, or buckets), a paper deckle (which I made out of scrap material), and some cloth scraps a little bigger than the deckle. Oh yeah, and a blender.

First step is to get some scrap paper together. Just go digging through your recycling bin, or your newspaper stack, or your old bills, certificates, deeds, proof of insurance. Anything paper that you would like to turn into more paper. Tear it into little pieces, you may want to use a paper shredder, scissors, or a Maggie Magpie. Take the little scraps and soak them in a bowl or bucket or warm water overnight. This is going to loosen up the fibers of the paper, so the blender can do it's job.

You should get a paper deckle. A smart person would go to the craft store and buy one, a crafty person will take some scrap screen door, and some wood and staple gun one together. The deckle consists of two parts, a screen and a frame. Take a rectangle (this will be the size of your paper) of the screen material, and build a wooden frame to staple it onto. The build a second frame, with a little height, that will fit on top of the screen, but is removable. You will hold them both together in the pulp, and the top frame will be used to stop the pulp from flowing over the sides. Once the water is drained, you'll remove the top frame and place the screen flat on the transfer cloth. So, make one, buy one, borrow one, you'll need it.

In the morning, bright and early (since I bet you couldn't sleep knowing that there was paper to be made), pull out the blender, the scraps of cloth, and the bucket of paper. Drain the water from the wet paper (I used the paper deckle for this, but a sieve would work great, even a colander), and squish it in your hands into balls. Put a small ball into the blender, and then almost fill it up with warm water. Put the lid on (trust me), and blend. A sharp blade will help, but patience is the real key. It should look like a fruit smoothie when it is done. Blend until there are no clumps of paper.

Dump this pulpy mixture onto a screen (once again, I used the paper deckle), and rub it back and forth to drain the water (don't do this on your lap, use a bowl to drain into), until the mixture gets solid enough to grab. Squeeze and squeeze and get all the water you can out of this mixture. Repeat this until all of your wet paper is now soggy pulp.

Get all of your pieces of cloth wet. Lay some newspaper down, and put one wet piece of clothe on top of it.

Get a bowl, or tray, that will hold the paper deckle, and fill it with warm water until it is an inch or two taller than the deckle. Throw a couple of handfuls of pulp in the water, and mix it up until there are no clumps. Put the deckle and frame together, and slip it into the water, sliding it from the far end towards you underneath the water, until it is flat on the bottom. Hold the frame onto the deckle, and lift it towards you slowly. The water will drain down the screen, and a layer of pulp will be left. Let the water drain for a minute, and then remove the frame.

Stand the deckle on edge on the bottom of the wet clothe, with the pulp facing the cloth. In a swift motion, let the deckle fall onto the clothe, so that the pulp can stick to it. Rub a little on the back of the screen until it separates, and then carefully life the screen off of the pulp. You should have a square of wet paper on the clothe. Cover that with another wet clothe. Put more pulp in the water, stick the deckle in there, pull out another sheet, and put it on top of this piece of clothe. Repeat until you run out of clothe or pulp or time or patience.

Put one last piece of wet cloth on the top of the last piece of paper, and transfer the whole stack (without the newspaper) to a flat surface. Put a flat board on top of the stack, and sit on it for a while. Allot of water will come out, so get a mop handy (or do it outside). Just relax until no more water comes out. Get up, take the board off.

Carefully remove the top piece of cloth (which should be the last one you put down), revealing the top piece of paper (the last one you made). Carefully remove this piece of cloth, with the paper (but not the one below it), and lay it somewhere flat to dry. Do this with all the remaining pieces of clothe with paper on them. They may take a day or two to dry. After 12 hours or so, take a rolling pin and flatten out the paper as best as you can. This will help the paper to take on the texture of the cloth, and thinner, which is better for origami.

Once you've done this, you'll want to try it again and experiment with how much pulp you use, and adding other materials to your paper. I like grass seeds and flower pedals, and things that bleed their color into the paper.

Let me know how your paper making turns out.