Paper pulp

20 years ago

On Carol Duval yesterday she featured a woman who works with shredded magazines for her paper mache pulp. She used a hand held mixer. I think they called it a thunder stick. I had one when they first came out - but what a great idea. Instead of the old blender. I thought it was a great idea. She made bowls and used it instead of ceramic clay. She said the magazine sheets gave the mash more body than newspaper etc.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (16)

Lia_SC
20 years ago
Tell me more! My blender died a while back and I bought a thrift shop replacement, but it was in worse shape than mine. LOL!
I'm still waiting for santa to bring me a new blender; he must be delayed. LOL! We want to make smoothies and of course handmade paper, so we really need two. :-/

Anyway, I just discovered not long ago, rummaging through kitchen cabinets, that I have an old handheld mixer my grandmother gave me when I got married. I could use that? Tell me how this thunder stick thing works!
I think I caught the last bit of the woman on 'Carol' making the vessels. (Did she use a beach ball?) They were wonderful!
minnie_tx
Original Author
20 years ago
She used a beach ball and did you see her deflate it?
I don't think a hand mixer would work too good unless it already was a mash.
The "thunder stick" as she called it is one of those straight up and down things you hold in your hand and go up and down on whatever is in the bowl. They used to be advertised all the time on TV. They'd make mayo in a cup and whip up cream, and crush ice cubes etc. If you did a google on it something mightpop up.
When they first came out about 20 years ago they were around $99 now I think they're about $20. One might turn up at a garage sale once you know what they look like.
Related Discussions
my first orchid
Q
Comments (1)
They put shredded paper around the Lowe's orchids to conserve moisture when shipping the plant. I would just remove the paper--below is probably a bark mixture. Can you post a picture? Most likely, this plant won't need to be repotted for a while... Clint
...See More
Bare Root Roses
Q
Comments (7)
It's been many yrs since I've seen "honest to goodness" bareroot roses. About 18yrs ago one of the local nurseries had raised beds with bareroots in some sort of soil medium. I never saw any I wanted. The newest nursery in town around 6-7yrs ago had them in wine barrels full of a light soil medium. They sold them for several dollars less as actual bareroots, and then potted them up around February in the pulp pots and sold them for more. They only did that once. Now they just pot them up like most of the nurseries do anymore. Our biggest and best nursery here pots them in 5gal plastic cans, but the problem with theirs is, they fertilize with sulfate of ammonia. The plants gets big and beautiful, but you buy them and take them home, and by the end of our hot summer, they die. They used to use Osmocote, but I imagine that's just too expensive. I won't buy from them anymore. The bareroot bagged roses are coming in all over. Some people like to call them "body bags" but I don't like to. I have better luck with the bagged bareroots than with some of the potted roses. I notice that all the places that sell the bagged bareroots are carrying a LOT less that usual. Lowe's used to have tons of the baggies, and quite a lot of the peat-potted bagged ones from Certified Roses. This yr, they have maybe half the baggie ones, and only about 2 dozen peat-potted ones, and very little selection. HD only got in about 10% of their usual selection, and nothing at all exciting. I also saw some at the Rite Aid pharmacy outside on tables. They seemed to have a lot, but they were the same ones Lowe's had. Boring-boring-boring!! Now I just have to wait til the Grocery Outlet gets in the giant boxes of the baggies. One yr they had some very unusual varieties. But most of the time, they just have the same old standbys.
...See More
My 'Veilchenblau' MUST get planted...but it's in a pulp pot!
Q
Comments (3)
First soak the pot with the rose bush in it in a bucket of water until the whole pot is completely saturated. This may take a day or two. Have the planting hole prepared and before you plant the potted bush, poke lots of holes in the sides and bottom of the pot. I use a large screwdriver. The holes give more area for the organisms that decompose the pot to work on. They also provide a place for the roots to grow out of into the surrounding soil. Done this way, the pot should decompose in a year or less. If not soaked, the pot could keep the roots contained and not break down for years. Make sure you do as Kathy said and remove the portion of pot above the soil line or at least bury it deep enough so it's below the soil line to prevent water wicking. This process can be messy but your rose bush will grow much better and will not suffer any transplant shock or stress due to the loss of soil or feeder roots if you lose soil when planting. Planting biodegradable pots this way has been quite successful for me.
...See More
"More when there is more"
Q
Comments (39)
This will probably be my last post in this thread as my "initiation" into vermiculture is past the initial stages. I have, at least until 'things' change, settled on a "plan". (Change is inevitable, and OCCASIONALLY even 'good'.) Being the ending post let me remind those that are still watching of my initial ideas and goals. (Please don't let this being MY last post in this thread - other than to respond to other's posts - deter others from commenting, etc.) The following quote is from my initial post on this forum:http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/verm/msg0322443013790.html START QUOTE "While my interest in vermiculture has many roots, the PRODUCTS I am interested in are worms and soil. I have available at the moment: 1) an unlimited supply of goat manure (mixed with straw to a ratio of about 5:1 manure to straw by weight); 2) an almost unlimited (20 cubic yards per year) supply of birch leaves, 3) a large supply (2 to 3 cubic yards per year), of hardwood saw "dust"), 4) about 5 cubic yards per year of grass clippings, 5) currently about 2 cubic yards of shredded paper/cardboard with a weekly production of a pound or two, 6) about a half a pound per week of coffee grounds, 7) and about 10 chicken egg shells per week (which I grind using a mortar and pestle) into pieces smaller than 0.5mm. I have a modest leaf shredder I intend to start relatively modestly with one commercially available "worm farm" with 4 or 5 stacked bins. This "farm" will be in my shop that is kept at a temperature of 60 degrees F. It is my intent to shred and mix (using the leaf shredder) the birch leaves and goat manure/straw mixture. Here are my questions: 1) Given the "food" I have available, and especially the goat manure, what would "you" recommend that I use as food? (I would point out that native worms LOVE birch leaf piles in the autumn even without them being shredding first.) 2) How much of the eggshells should I add on what schedule - weekly, biweekly, monthly? 3) At this temperature, what do you THINK (I'm not trying to pin anyone down), would be the SOIL production per unit time? 4) At this temperature, what do you THINK the worm production - surplus to be harvested for use as fish food - would be per unit time? 5) Given the "system" I have described, do you see any potential areas of concern? Thank you for taking the time to respond to my specific questions. I would add that I have looked through the first 100 threads in this site." END QUOTE Quite a bit has transpired since that initial post, and my education has been greatly accelerated by the generous folks at this forum. The major departure from the above goals of "making soil" and "making worms" is that I no longer have ANY interest in using worms to "make soil". That's not to say I am not interested in vermicompost and worm castings, but using worms to "make soil" for my applications is not reasonable. Instead, I am going to mix items 1, 2, 3, and 4, plus 5 - 10% sand from the first list above (organic matter on hand), and call that "soil", and "use it like I knew what I was doing." The other primary goal of raising worms to feed my fish, got an 'adjustment' yesterday. The wife of my fishing friend (Jim) fought off breast cancer a few years back. Her immune system was compromised while she was going through chemo-therapy, and Jim was advised by her doctors to get a Mosquito Magnet (hereafter "MM") (http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/resource/lps/mm/3-traps-octenol/trap-video-three-traps.html?gclid=CMi24NzEkL4CFY6RfgodF38A4w) to reduce the probability of an infection from a mosquito bite. They have been using it every summer since. The MM collects ~5000 mosquitoes a week. (YES, I HAVE counted them. It's what I DO.) Mosquitoes represent a significant proportion of native fish's protein intake. I asked Jim to bring over a baggy of his first trappings, and we'd see if my fish were interested. It took a day for them to figure it out, but now they are eating them enthusiastically. I have at least one other friend with a MM that has agreed to save his trappings for me. Therefore, the burden to produce worms is LESSENED, not eliminated. The mosquitoes will likely be frozen and saved for winter feed when worm production will, at best, be minimized. SO... 1) "Making soil" via worm guts is "out", 2) I'm "moving outside" with mendopete's worm cages, at least until the Fall. 3) The 'demand' for worms for fish food is diminished. We'll see what the summer brings. THANKS! to all for helping me 'move along smartly'.(Those that have been in the Navy will appreciate the double meaning.) Paul This post was edited by pskvorc on Sat, May 3, 14 at 16:12
...See More
lorraine303
20 years ago
I saw her too and remember seeing something like that before on another show. The person doing it also used shredded paper and said that those coupon inserts from the Sunday paper are great because the paper has some sort of "clay" coating and it gives it body. So I saved mine for a while and borrowed a shredder and had about 3 bags full stuck in the back of a closet - and then last year "flylady" got me and they went out in a boogie fling. Now I regret it. I guess I'll have to start all over!
Lia_SC
20 years ago
Oh, I thought that's what you meant by 'hand held mixer', Minnie --LOL at me! Now that I think about it, I remember the kind you're talking about from when I did some research a while back. What do you call the mayo maker thing?

lorraine, I had to part ways with the 'Sidetracked Home Executives' when I came to the part about getting rid of craft stuff. I can keep a clean sink without flinging my treasures and without shoes, too, thank you very much! ;-) LOL!
minnie_tx
Original Author
20 years ago
The trouble is I love all my stuff Why would I want to get rid of it. If I was paying storage on it I might.
meggiecat
20 years ago
I have one called a Braun Multiquick. It doesn't look like it would do much but since I don't have a blender it is what I use to make pulp. It works well even with heavy paper if I let it soak a couple of minutes and have it covered with water.

Lia, it makes smoothies too! It was strong enough for frozen blackberries and yogurt.

Lorraine, is a pitch campaign the same thing as a boogie fling? I do it far too often but just can't keep everything without losing my mind (what is left of it). If I have to choose it is that pile of egg cartons that is out of here rather than that $3 piece of paper I paid for!
Lia_SC
20 years ago
Hmmm.... I gave DH a Braun something-or-other once for making milkshakes. I wonder if it's the same thing? I hate cleaning that thing so it's somewhere in the cabinet. Maybe I'll give it a whirl. hehe
meggiecat
20 years ago
Minnie,

That show was on again today and if it weren't for you I wouldn't have had the heads up to record it. She shredded mail order catalogs and then put the shred covered with water in an enamel pot and put it on the stove to bring to a boil. She used what she called an immersion blender (like my Braun thing) then poured the glop into a collander lined with fabric to drain. Then she kneaded the grey glop with wallpaper paste from a tub. It did look like a great clay.
Thanks! Paper mache is my favorite craft.
ArtsyCraftsy
20 years ago
I finally got to see it today too, Kathy! The look of the pulp reminded me of Celluclay, but she had a nicer clay-like body to it and her surface was not as bumpy, but more like a pleasing sandstone texture. I loved her use of twigs and copper pipe embedded in the forms. What an inspiring show! I even liked Dee Gruenig's segment using resists to create images on the compressed stamping sponge.
So which is cheaper Braun or Thunderstick? Any other similar products? Guess this non-cook needs to head to the small appliance department, lol!
minnie_tx
Original Author
20 years ago
See gals, those kitchen appliances came in handy after all. When I was working, a client came in and said it was her 60th Birthday and she had just thrown every kitchen appliance out and she was going OUT to dinner from then on.!!!
meggiecat
20 years ago
Karen,

Check the thrift stores before you buy a new one. I have seen them quite often. You are right! That pulp was just beautiful and the copper elbows as legs!!! I was blown away. I'm not all that fond of grey and would probably use gesso and paint and maybe even sand it smoother. Sure was a great segment.
Lia_SC
20 years ago
Oh, phooey! I didn't know it was coming on again and I was gone any way! :-( Missed the Dee Gruenig part the first time. How does this resist thing work? I have one of those compressed sponges.

What is the pulp artist's name and does she have a website? I loved the vessels I did get to see! Oh, maybe it's on the hgtv site...
meggiecat
20 years ago
Dee transfered her design to the sponge by the pencil on the back of paper technique and then used the resist right out of the bottle and traced the design on the sponge. Let dry and then she used dye based re-inkers in the to fill the areas. They had a great batik look and she got tons of prints. When the ink started to run out she would spray the sponge with water and got watercolor looks. I always enjoy her segments.
meggiecat
20 years ago
P.S.

It appears that the sponge will be that design forever. Dee had a collection of sponges like you would have stamps.
taunia1
20 years ago
I bought some wallpaper paste yesterday. I thought I'd try my hand at it sometime. I don't have one of those hand held blenders though. I wonder if I could use my countertop blender? I just got through ordering a bunch of free mags. online LOL! Hope they send me a bunch. If this doesn't work out, I will have to come up with some new ideas for wallpaper paste! Can't I used this like decopage glue?
minnie_tx
Original Author
20 years ago
Lia, Next time VCR recorders are on sale get one. It is a good investment. I have 2 hooked up to one TV. I can watch tv and record 2 different shows and then I can play one tape and copy to another tape and cut out all the parts I don't want on the finished tape. I have over 30 Craft and Rubberstamp tapes like that. (I have most of them catalogued in the computer otherwise I'd never find anything on the tapes)
I know you need a "Y" connection for 2
VCR's your DH's would probably know what that means.
Sorry a little OT.

Paper pulp

Comments (16)

Lia_SC

minnie_tx
Original Author

Related Discussions

lorraine303

Lia_SC

minnie_tx
Original Author

meggiecat

Lia_SC

meggiecat

ArtsyCraftsy

minnie_tx
Original Author

meggiecat

Lia_SC

meggiecat

meggiecat

taunia1

minnie_tx
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Paper pulp

Comments (16)

minnie_txOriginal Author

Related Discussions

minnie_txOriginal Author

minnie_txOriginal Author

minnie_txOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

minnie_tx
Original Author

minnie_tx
Original Author

minnie_tx
Original Author

minnie_tx
Original Author