Expert: Laura - 3/23/2008

Question
Do you know where I can find a recipe for making paper out of blue jeans? My two daughters and myself are making this our spring break project and plan on giving the paper to loved one's as gifts but we can't seem to find a very helpfull recipe. Can you help?

Answer
Hey Crystele! Thanks for the question!

Using recycled items like clothing for crafts is a wonderful idea.

I have a couple ideas for you and hopefully it will help.

First of all, if you are using the paper to write something on it, I would suggest just measuring out the size of paper you want on the jean, and cutting it. Then adding any extras (words with fabric writers/paint or jewels). If you wanted to go to the next step, you could also frame it and hang it up.  

Another suggestion would be to take a piece of paper (scrapbooking) and cut out a pocket of the jean and glue it on that. That way you can also add pictures, captions, embellishments, and more room for you and your daughters to add special touches.

If your daughters wanted to do something smaller and perhaps on their own, they could cut out a shape from the jeans and have the small resemble something important and special (heart, flower, etc.). Then they can paint or decorate it how ever they want.

I hope that this helped and if not please let me know and I can try my best to come up with some other ideas for you. Feel free to ask any more questions. Good luck and have fun doing arts and crafts with your daughters.

Laura