When my dear friend wrote me with good news I felt inclined to send a gift. But for those who live a truly natural life with the Earth there is nothing I could send, even from an organic store, that would be right.
At the very least, I felt a card was in order. Yet, this friend is not the type who would appreciate a mass produced Hallmark card. So, I decided to make one in as Earth friendly a manner as I could find.
Making the card was simple, and fun. I first tore pieces f newspaper in small pieces, place them in a canning jar to soak (photo 1) up the water and turn mushy. I added some old organic garden seeds that were past their prime for texture. I closed the jar and let the mixture set over night.
The next day I poured the concoction into my blender, added a little water, and blended the wet paper and seed into a mushy pulp.
I then poured the pulp onto a screen (photo 2 -and that is a bird seed feeder, used temporarily as a paper making screen). Leaving the paper to strain on the screen, I went out to the garden.
There I selected 2 herbs, mint and lambs ear, both showing signs of life after a long winter.
Along with the new life theme (because we're celebrating a baby), lambs ear seemed and excellent choice, as it's so soft and fuzzy and can be used as a baby boo-boo band aid.
Anyway, I lined my little herb leaves up in no particular pattern on a cookie sheet (photo 3) then coated the herbs with a layer of paper mush (photo 4), flattening it with my bare hands, then set the paper in the sun to dry.
When dry, I gently peeled the paper from the cookie sheet. Though the backside of the paper was rough, the side with the herbs -that was flattened on the cookie sheet, was smooth as, well, a babies behind.
The card was made with time, love, recycled material and nature, and cost nothing. Yet, I imagine my friend will enjoy this handmade gift more than anything I could have found in a store.
I was so pleased with the results, I think I will make more in the future- for birthdays, gift tags, and maybe some as ornaments for our holiday tree (punch a hole, add some string and hang).
