Homemade Recycled Paper

We all have it, piles of used paper (newspaper, filled note pads, used printer paper, even bank statements or bills) we want to recycle but why just put it in a box by the road when you can recycle and reuse it yourself...And it is Soooo easy and fun...
Oh and FYI by the time you are done with it
NO-ONE will be able to get your personal information from those old bills and bank statements...


So first things first, we need to make our old paper into pulp...All you need is old paper of course, a bucket, warm water and a blender...

Tear your paper into rough square inch pieces and drop them in your bucket half filled with the warm water, let soak for about an hour...mix with your hand or a wooden spoon occasionally to make sure the paper is thoroughly wet through and begin the process of the paper breaking down...

Now we half fill the blender with the wet paper
(You can also add some flower petals at this point)
and then top off the blender with more hot water, blend for about 30seconds, now we have "pulp...Empty the pulp into a tub large enough to fit your screen into (see below)...repeat this step until your wet paper is all made into pulp...

If you are without a blender you could continue to simply mix the paper in the bucket by hand (or wooden spoon) until it completely breaks down and looks like watered down instant potatoes ....

Once all your pulp is in your tub you want to add more water, like pictured above...you can also add food coloring to create colored paper...you will need to experiment to see how much coloring you need for your tub and water level...

These are the screens I made using old photo frames with bug screen stapled to them...

Stir up the water so it is cloudy with the paper particles, then dip the frame in at an angle into the tub and hold flat at the bottom of tub for 1 to 5 minutes depending on how thick you wish your paper to be...

Being careful to hold it flat as you lift out of the water, then allow to drip dry for about 15 to 30 minutes (on a hot day)...You can use a sponge to gently soak up the excess water from beneath the frame...

When the edges of the paper begin to lift from the frame invert onto a drying rack and allow to dry until the paper completely separates from the frame without tearing...leave on drying rack until complete dried out...

You have now made your very own recycled paper....

All that is left to do is put it to use...

Water Color and Ink Rooster on Homemade Recycled Paper

Blessings Kelsie

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Veggies in the front yard...

Here is the front yard update for the week...I hope you enjoyed it...I would also like to welcome all my new followers and do apologize for neglecting the blog this last week...We had a week of bad storms so spend most of my time entertaining a very bored and house bound toddler...Hopefully the icky weather is gone for awhile and we can go back to enjoying our Florida spring time...Must say the plants sure did love all that rain though...

The heirloom tomatoes in the wash tub in the front garden are doing well...I added some marigolds to the tub for a little color and my Angel & Cherub statue for a little whimsy...who says veggies have to be boring :)...I plan to add more annuals to this garden bed just as soon as the seedlings are big enough to transplant.

My Gladi bulbs are looking good, as are the Freesias in the back ground...Can't wait to see them flower...The first small bud is forming on the climbing rose too...I need to take some better photos of this bird bath to share...I painted the doves and vines on the base about 9yrs ago while still living in NC...it needs a few touch ups but the birds don't seem to mind.

This is a before photo of the first front garden bed we put in the end of last summer...In the front you can just make out the straggly butterfly bushes I got last August on clearance for $1.50 each...Close to the wall of the house are the Mexican petunias

Here there are today, reaching over 4ft in height and lots of budding going on...I am very excited to seem them really take off this yr...The mums in the front are also covered in buds and I am amazed how big they are compared to when I put them in as small $1 plants late in the fall....I read they often bloom both in the spring and fall in Florida...now that would be very cool...

We found this old foot locker in the barn...It is too far gone to salvage for inside the house, but it will make a super cool planter don't ya think?...I plan to fill it with lots of lovely annuals.

And this is our "repurposed" veggie garden...All the boards are from the work bench in the old barn we are having to pull down...The stepping stones are an old slab that got broken up during the removal of the 1960's single wide trailer...Even the hay was recycled, it had served it's purpose in the chicken house, now it will help my plants grow..

In the upper left of the bed I have planted my Bloody Baron Heirloom Corn, below the corn will be planted the last of the pepper plant seedlings and the 2 variety of spinach will be planted either side of the stepping stones...On the right side I have onions, red onions top and yellow onions bottom, a divider of basil to make harvesting "as needed" onions of the right variety...

Marigolds and other companion flowers will be added in and around this bed to add a touch of color and fun since this is smack bang in the middle of our front yard lol...Oh I even got me a little "Peter Rabbit" statue to go in there. For now he is patiently waiting on the front porch for all the planting to be done before he moves in.

Be sure and keep an eye out for new photos coming this week of the potatoes in the tires and the veggies planted in the melon field are really getting big fast...

Blessings Kelsie

Though I am a little late, I am sharing this post at the following parties:

Farm Friendly Friday @ http://www.verdefarm.com/
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Our Garden Gate Arbor for under $30

Every English Country Garden has to have an amazing gate or arbor entry...It also needs a white picket fence, but the pickets will just have to come later since they are just not in the budget right now....

The gate and arbor however did fit in the budget, using my imagination and husbands skills they came to under $30 to create.

The second I laid eyes on this old broken scrolled metal stand, I just knew exactly how I could use it to make our garden gate more "English Garden".

Here it is again, pulled apart and hubby welded two of the pieces together to create the large piece in the top of the photo.

Once painted it was added to the top of the gate arbor to add the perfect touch of embellishment to take 3 pieces of wood to the next level to FABULOUS!!..Couple of hanging baskets are the last touch. (well until I can locate the perfect mini ships bell)

And I know you all remember this piece...It started it's life as one end of Lil Sara's crib...I got many great suggestions on what it could be or become, but the correct answer was...

A GATE...Hubby trimmed the legs at the bottom and painted it with an outdoor paint...Little secret, I knew when we purchased the crib that I would one day use the ends for gates :)

Ta-Da...Our pretty English Garden Gate Arbor..

Cost Break Down:
Lumber for frame $7 each
Hinges and Latch $8
Scroll Work $1
Re-purposed Crib end FREE...

Total Cost = $29
Various paints used to paint and prim pieces we had on hand from other projects.

I am sure you are all enjoying looking at our lovely white builders sand in all the photos too....We have one more section of wire fence to go up to keep the chickens out and then we can FINALLY seed the front yard...YAY.

And just because..

Our very first rose bud, it is supposed to be a Blue Lady...hmmmmmm I guess it will change color at some point?

Well I still have about a thousand or so seeds to get planted, so better go make the most of my afternoon...Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing today for:
Met Monday @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.comWow Us Wednesday @ http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com
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Repurposed Pink

So this week for St Pat's day it is a Green and Pink Saturday Linky Party...

And what is more green than re-purposing??...
Though I am pretty sure this is not quite was our lovely hostess Beverly had in mind...hehe

This is what I started with...Hubby's old greasy work boots and spray paint...White to prime them and then Ballet Slipper Pink to make them Pretty...

Add a couple of flowers and they are now planters :)

This lovely pink glass bowl that graces my table was given to me from my sweet MIL during their last visit...She knew I would love it...And what is not to love about vintage pink glass...

My clever MIL saw a new life for this LIGHT SHADE as a sweet bowl 20yrs ago...Back before re-purposing was trendy...And I for one am very glad she did...

Wishing you all a wonderful Pink Weekend..
Blessings Kelsie

What do you see?...It is all about the *RE*

It started 7yrs ago when hubby and his brother were doing a clean out and fixing to do a scrap metal run...(this is what car guys do when they are nagged enough about the "crap" around the yard...if you are lucky)

So BIL arrives with his contribution to the load, lo & behold he has a big ole Weber BBQ grill lid...Much to my hubbies horror I claim this and one of his many spare car rims.

I was like, look hunny a divine planter...
He was like, umm really??
I was like, yer YOU just got to paint it...

Fast Forward 7yrs later....Because yesterday it finally got painted lol

Not only is it really cute, add instant height and much needed eclectic cottage feel to the front garden....

But also much needed protection to the corner of the bed from the garden hose during watering.

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