Paper from Pulp & Hieroglyphics

Tuna already made actual papyrus last year, from reeds, in the proper manner. But we wanted to write on some handmade paper for our Egypt project, so we tried recycled paper pulp instead. It was a giant mess but it was fun and successful.

Our blender was lost in our move to Germany, so we had to use my food processor to make our paper pulp. I hate the scent of newspaper, so to mask it, I added vanilla extract and cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (it worked). 

Oh, by the way: It's super messy. Paper goo came SPLASHING out of my food processor all over the tile, counter, stove, sink, everything it could reach. 

Nasty-looking paper pulp mess ready to be made into paper

It looks like cooked hamburger meat, doesn't it? Since I didn't have a screen, I used one of my stockings over a pan to dry our paper. We flipped it after a day so it would dry evenly. 

No more hamburger meat. Now we have paper. Tuna's writing "EGYPT" on it.

All done!

We made a cuneiform tablet, too, out of baked salt dough.