Seed Paper DIY Valentine’s

Learn how to make seed paper and see how to make these Seed Paper DIY hearts too! They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day or even weddings. You can also get my printable Valentine’s Day card for your seed paper too!

I’m so excited to show you these Seed Paper DIY Valentine’s Day cards and this tutorial on how to make seed paper! I’ve experimented with this in a couple different ways now and you can see there’s even different results in my Seed paper DIY hearts in terms of color and consistency. Let’s jump right in and I’ll tell you how it’s done.

How to make seed paper supplies

So, before you started learning how to make seed paper, there’s a few basic supplies you need to make it and the Seed Paper DIY Valentine’s.

Making it

You need two frames that are the same size. Ideally 8×10 and I would say no bigger than 11×14. You can buy these at the dollar store if you like. They shouldn’t be expensive. Then you need either cheesecloth or window screen material. You can also order these in various sizes with the screens built in {HERE}. I happened to have something that would work because we made something similar last summer for drying out garden seeds. You can see mine in the photos.

The frames will be the basic size of your paper and the screen or cheese cloth with help to form the sheets while filtering out the water.

Next you need a blender. You want to make sure that if you use this blender for paper making, it doesn’t get used for food afterwards. It should be a dedicated blender. You can find these at thrift stores sometimes. I ended up buying a inexpensive, personal blender {HERE} because I didn’t want to use any of mine and wasn’t going to be able to get to a thrift store. It worked perfectly and it’s small enough that storage isn’t an issue.

Then, you need a tub for the blended paper and water. This is where you will mix the paper together so you need this to be large enough to fit your frame.

You also need paper to use. This can be printer paper, paper bags, construction paper or whatever you want. I would stay away from things like post its with glue on them and I’m sure some people are iffy about newspaper due to the printing. However, I would have used it if we had it. I made this a couple times and in one set I only used white computer paper. In the other set, I used brown cardstock and white computer paper. You can see the color difference in the heart papers.

Michael’s has a good, basic making kit that you can buy too. You can find that {HERE}.

Drying

Then, you need cloth strips or towels for drying. I cut up and old pillow case and used that. These will get gross so I wouldn’t plan on using these for much afterwards except paper making. Mine took about 12 hours to dry so just make sure you have a spot where this can sit undisturbed. Also, I have seen people use towels but I’m not sure how the fibers will impact the quality of your paper. Just keep that in mind if you decide to go that direction. I’m sure they will soak up more water, but don’t know if they will make a prettier paper.

You also need sponges. Once the seed paper is on the cloth, you need to press out some of the water. The sponges {HERE} help with that. I used basic kitchen sponges {HERE} and wish I had these larger ones.

Flowers to use

Lastly, you need seeds and dried flowers. I would suggest wildflower seeds because most other seeds prefer certain spacing. And I wouldn’t make this with vegetable seeds for that very reason. As for the dried flowers, they just make the paper look pretty. Be aware, that some of the flowers will dye the paper. In my brown set I used hibiscus flowers and they dyed some parts blue. With the white set I used marigolds and they turned some parts of that white paper yellowish, and effect they did not have on the brown paper.

Quick list of supplies for Seed Paper DIY Valentine’s

• 2 picture frames or DIY frames like mine
• Window screen or cheesecloth
• Tub for the water and paper – The size you use should be based on the size of your frames.
• Blender
• Paper – The color doesn’t matter. You can use printer paper that’s been printed on or even colored paper too.
• Dried flowers – This is really optional. It just makes the seed paper look nicer.
• Sponges
• Seeds – Wildflower seeds are probably best.
• Cloth strips or towels
• To make the hearts – Heart Cookie Cutter {HERE}

How to make seed paper

1. First, combine torn up paper in your blender with water. I would fill my blender with bits of paper and then add two cups of water before blending. The exact measurement is going to depend on the size of your blender.

2. Once, blended, dump the paper slurry into the plastic tub. Add even more water. I filled my blender up 3/4 of the way twice and added that to the mix. That gave me a good consistency.

3. You might have to repeat these steps one or two times depending on the size of your blender and the amount of paper you want to make. For mine, I did it twice. That gave me plenty of slurry for a few pieces or paper and hearts.

4. Take your frames and screen and dunk them into the slurry. Move them around and get the paper to settle on the screen portion. Then pull it out of the water and let the water drain out back into the tub.

5. Now, add on the dried flowers and the wildflower seeds. I’ve seen some people add them to the slurry mix directly – and I did that with the browner paper that you can see int he heart photos. However, I felt that I got a much better result – prettier and more seeds – when I added them after I pulled the frame from the water.

6. Remove the top frame and you can now see the outline of the paper. Quickly flip that onto the drying cloth or towels.

7. Use the sponges and press down to transfer the paper to the towels/drying cloth and to soak up some extra water. Be aware that any paper you make will spread just a little when you do this.

8. Remove the screened frame carefully so you don’t rip the paper.

9. Let it dry for 12 – 24 hours. Dry time will depend on the humidity conditions in your home. I did this in the winter and let it dry overnight. That worked perfectly.

10. Carefully remove the paper from the drying cloth and cut to desired size.

How to make Seed Paper DIY hearts

So, the process for making the Seed Paper DIY hearts isn’t much different from making the sheets of paper. There’s just really one change.

Follow steps 1-3 when making the hearts. However, instead of dunking the frames in the water, place a towel under the frames and add a heart cookie cutter to the top. Spoon in the slurry mix until the inside of the heart is covered.

Then add the dried flowers and wild flowers seeds.

Next wiggle the cookies cutter a bit to help define the heart edges. Then remove it and use it to make another one.

From there, follow steps 6-9 again. If one of your hearts won’t come off, leave it until it dries and then use a knife to help guide it off. It’s helpful to have two frames just in case this happens.

As for step 10, you can cut the hearts to shape them once dry. They will spread a little using the sponge on them. I decided not to do this because I liked the organic look. But do whatever makes you happy.

Seed Paper DIY Printable Cards

You can find the PDF for the Seed Paper DIY Valentine’s here –> Seed Paper Valentines (2).pdf . This pints with a crop space on either side so if you don’t want that, set your printer setting to fill the paper. You should use a paper cutter to cut these out versus scissors. They print the best on 65 lb. white or brown cardstock.

Make sure to print these on the back and the front. The back contains the some sweet words and the To and From.

Looking for other Valentine’s Day ideas

Visit these posts for Valentine’s Day decor and gift ideas

• Vintage Floral Mason Jars {HERE}
• Heart Garland {HERE}
• Milk and Honey Floral Bath Milk Bath {HERE}
• Peppermint Vanilla Foot Scrub {HERE}
• Valentine’s Day Dessert Board {HERE}

Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope that you love this tutorial on how to make seed paper and the Seed Paper DIY hearts. These are really perfect for anyone who loves flowers for Valentine’s day or for DIY wedding favors.