I need as many ways to use up one-sided paper as you can give me!

[MamaPyratekk]

I've been doing some paperwork for the company my husband works for, putting their files into a database. The thing is that all of the paper files have a pink top sheet that we were told to just discard. This is leaving me with hundreds, if not literal thousands, of sheets of one sided paper. I know I can obviously recycle it, but before I do that I'd like to use as muc of it as I can or store to use it in the future. The only thing I've done so far is make a "book" of capital letters for my son because he's learning his letters and is obsessed with them.

Any other ideas? I need any inspiration I can get.

[FrugalMomof3]

Why not just drawing paper, doodle paper or even cute little stapled notebooks for the kids? They can even be fridge notes and stuff like that. Paper is adored here at our house, you can use paper for almost anything especially with kids around.

[DonnainME]

I agree about using them for notes or drawing paper. I seem to go thru notebooks way too fast because of needing to write this or that down to remind myself to do something or call someone. Heck, right now I have 3 or 4 that I'm using (all currently) for my business. LOL

You mentioned capital letters - how about lowercase letters too?

[fuzzybunny]

Try making homemade paper.

Get an old blender from a garage sale... something you won't mind messing up.

An old dish pan

Make a small wood frame from scraps that will fit inside the dish pan and rest on the bottom. Then tack a small piece of screen or cheese cloth over the frame, nice and tight, with no wrinkles.

A shredder will be helpful too, but not absolutely necessary.


Fill the blender 1/3 to 1/2 full with water. Add pink paper shreds (if you tear them by hand make them thin). Keep adding paper (and water as necessary) until you have a good amount of pulp or until the blender sounds labored. You don't want it too soupy but liquid enough so that it will pour and not burn out the blender. The consistancy is not a vital factor.

Fill the dish pan about half way full of water and add the pulp. If it doesn't seem like enough blend another batch and add to the water.

Put your screen down in the dishpan and press it all the way to the bottom, then lift it up. Do this several times until the screen is entirely covered with pulp. The more passes you make through the pulp the thicker your paper will be. Take the screen out of the tub and drain it over a sink or large pan.

When the pulp is still damp but has drained enough to hold together, turn it out onto a flat surface to dry. Once it is completely dry you will have pink "home made paper". The chemicals already present in the finished paper will cause the pulp to bind together again as it dries, but now it will be rougher with unfinished edges. If you want to do more intense production make 3 or 4 screens so you can do several at a time.

If you want even fancier paper you can add rose or other flower petals to the tub before screening. I have also used small bits of cedar to good effect. If you want smelly girly paper add a little scent.This paper is great for crafts and cards but beacause it is not polished like store bought paper, markers can bleed, so test on scrap before writing. Crayons, pastels, ball point pens all work great.

Kids love to do this as well.

Christine

[Natalie]

Taking down phone messages....

[pecunierrant]

I staple and make my own note pads too. Also, if you have a xyron machine you can make personalized stickers, print what you want and cut or punch them out. I'd use a pile to wrap disposable pads, etc or kitchen stuff you don't want to toss right into the trash bin.
Art projects, scribbling. Might even use it in the printer for non important stuff if the paper isn't too thick, etc.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I let my kids draw all over the paper we have in the house. My DS #1 treats every sheet of paper like it's one-sided and my other one will draw "all over the place" on his paper.

[Mom2Many]

Are these 8 1/2X11? I'm a teacher and whenever I have extra copies of something I'll cut it into 4 squares and stack it together for notes and messages...

[walker24]

you could donate it to preschools/daycares. Ours is always soliciting for scratch paper for the kids to doodle on.

[blitzen]

Shred it in a paper shredder and mix it with flower bed mulch.

Do you compost? You can shred the paper and add it to the compost pile!

[G'MaDebbie]

print coupons on it....doesnt matter that its one sided...all the coupons you clip have writing or pictures of some kind on the other side.

[pkellyc]

Origami? Lots of directions on the web.

[Greebo]

Paper Mache - make masks, globes, etc. all with old paper, flour and water!

[geckoace]

i would print on it. stuff thats just for my use, not my sons book report. i keep a stack of one side used paper from my sisters job and i print on it unless it is something for school