How to Make Paper With Denim

Your favorite jeans have finally worn out, but they deserve more than to be wadded up and tossed in the trash. Turn your favorite jeans into homemade paper, and you'll not only recycle and eliminate waste, but you'll give your tattered old jeans new life. Make several sheets of denim paper and create unique stationery, journals or scrapbooking pages.

Cut the denim into small squares, no larger than 1 inch by 1 inch. Throw out any squares with seams, pockets, zippers or tabs.

Run the squares through the dryer for about five minutes to help loosen the threads and promote fraying.

Boil the denim squares in a large pot for about an hour.

In a large blender, add one cup of the water from the pot, one-quarter cup of white glue and one teaspoon of cornstarch. Put in one cup of boiled denim. If your blender isn't large enough, use half a cup of denim. Leave the remaining measurements the same. Blend until the denim is dissolved and the mixture is pulp.

Set a screen over your kitchen sink. You can make a frame by stapling household window screen to wood or you can use plastic canvas or felt from the craft store. Pour the mixture from the blender over the screen slowly, allowing the liquid to drain away while the pulp rests on top of the screen.

Press the pulp mixture with your hands to gently squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Allow the paper to dry overnight.