Shortlist

Recipes that flex around what you have.

Filter by time, group and setting. Difficulty tags tell you how much prep is involved.

53 recipes

Bioplastic (cast film)Beginner15 min active48 h total

Gelatine bioplastic

A cast flexible film made by dissolving gelatine with water and a plasticiser, then drying on a flat non-stick surface. Supports optional fillers, pigments and foraged powders without losing clarity.

Bioplastic (cast film)Beginner20 min active36 h total

Agar bioplastic

A vegan alternative to gelatine, using agar agar as the film-former. Sets firmly on cooling and dries to a tough sheet. Well-suited to foraged fillers.

Bioplastic (cast film)Beginner15 min active36 h total

Starch bioplastic

The classic kitchen bioplastic: starch, water, vinegar and glycerine, cooked to a clear gel and poured thin.

Bioplastic (cast film)Intermediate60 min active48 h total

Pectin bioplastic

Extracts pectin from peel and pulp, then gels into a firm, glass-like sheet. Naturally slightly coloured by the fruit.

Bioplastic (cast film)Intermediate45 min active12 h total

Alginate film

A quick-setting sheet made by pouring alginate solution and spraying with a calcium salt to set it on contact.

Bioplastic (cast object)Beginner30 min active72 h total

Casein plastic (milk plastic)

Heat milk, curdle with vinegar, drain, and press the curds. Dries into a dense, bone-hard plastic like early 1900s Galalith.

Bioplastic (cast film)Advanced180 min active48 h total

Chitosan film

Transparent antimicrobial film from shellfish shells dissolved in weak acid. A more advanced process but entirely home-feasible.

DoughBeginner20 min active3 h total

Salt dough

Flour, salt and water kneaded into a dough, baked until hard. Forage adds texture, colour and smell.

DoughBeginner15 min active24 h total

Cornstarch clay (cold porcelain)

A smooth, white, air-drying modelling clay made by cooking cornstarch with white glue, oil and lemon juice.

DoughBeginner30 min active48 h total

Paper clay

A putty made from pulped paper and a starch paste. Dries to a lightweight, carveable solid.

DoughBeginner20 min active36 h total

Peel clay

Fruit peel blitzed with a binder into a sculptable putty. Each fruit gives a different tone and scent.

DoughBeginner20 min active24 h total

Sawdust dough

A fragrant wood-scented dough bound with flour paste. Prints the grain of whatever surface you press it into.

DoughIntermediate120 min active168 h total

Earth clay (from dug soil)

Clay panned from your own garden or a building site. Purified, rested and ready to model.

DoughIntermediate60 min active336 h total

Cob (earth, sand, straw)

A traditional building material mixed from clay-rich soil, sharp sand and straw. Scaled down for small objects and garden ornaments.

DoughIntermediate180 min active48 h total

Acorn dough

An acorn flour dough, leached of tannin, bound with flour. Produces a pale buff material with a warm toasted smell.

Leather / sheetBeginner (long wait)45 min active672 h total

Kombucha (SCOBY) leather

A pellicle of bacterial cellulose grown in sweet tea, then rinsed, flattened and slowly dried into a thin leather.

Leather / sheetBeginner45 min active48 h total

Coffee leather

Coffee grounds bound with gelatine or agar, cast thin and dried slowly into a pliable sheet.

Leather / sheetBeginner60 min active12 h total

Fruit leather sheet

Fruit pulp dried slowly into a flexible edible or non-edible sheet. With pectin it turns glossy and firm; without, soft and supple.

Leather / sheetBeginner30 min active24 h total

Apple pomace leather

The leftover pulp from apple juicing pressed and dried into a thick, warm sheet.

Leather / sheetBeginner30 min active24 h total

Banana peel leather

Ripe banana peel blitzed, strained, seasoned with glycerine and dried slowly.

InkBeginner30 min active168 h total

Tannin-and-iron ink

The classic iron gall ink. Tannins meet iron salts and darken to a deep grey-black that oxidises further with time.

InkBeginner20 min active2 h total

Berry ink

A simple drawing ink from berries, vinegar and salt. Beautiful but rarely lightfast.

InkBeginner20 min active1 h total

Soot ink

A black carbon ink from soot or fine charcoal, bound with gum arabic or flour paste.

Drawing mediaBeginner20 min active4 h total

Charcoal drawing sticks

Thin willow twigs cooked slowly in a sealed tin until they become charcoal.

Dye bathBeginner60 min active24 h total

Onion skin dye

One of the reliable household dyes. Brown onion skins give golden tones on wool and cotton.

Dye bathBeginner90 min active24 h total

Avocado skin dye

A soft rose-pink from avocado skin and stone. Surprising to first-timers.

Dye bathBeginner45 min active2 h total

Red cabbage pH dye

A pH-sensitive dye that shifts from pink to blue to green as acid or alkali are added.

Dye bathBeginner120 min active12 h total

Bark and hull tannin dye

A brown-spectrum dye from bark, walnut husk, or acorns. Naturally self-mordanting thanks to its tannin load.

AdhesiveBeginner15 min active

Flour paste

Plain flour whisked into cold water then cooked to a smooth paste. Used for papering and gentle bonding.

AdhesiveBeginner20 min active

Wheat-starch paste (bookbinder's)

A finer, clearer paste for conservation, bookbinding, and fine papercraft. Made from wheat starch only, not flour.

AdhesiveBeginner30 min active

Casein milk glue

Curdled milk mixed with baking soda becomes a strong, water-resistant glue, traditionally used on furniture.

AdhesiveBeginner30 min active

Sticky rice glue

An Asian traditional glue made by cooking glutinous rice until it yields a translucent starchy paste.

AdhesiveIntermediate40 min active1 h total

Pine resin adhesive

A hot-melt adhesive from pine resin, beeswax and a dark filler. Traditional for tool-handles, fletching and canoe seams.

Composite (tile)Intermediate30 min active72 h total

Eggshell composite tile

Finely ground eggshell cast into a binder to make a smooth, marble-like tile.

Composite (tile)Intermediate60 min active72 h total

Shell aggregate (coastal composite)

Mussel, oyster or cuttlefish shell crushed and mixed into a binder for a speckled, sea-scented panel.

Composite (pressed)Intermediate45 min active72 h total

Sawdust / coffee puck

A dense wood-like puck made from fine powder pressed with a hot binder. Close to pressed MDF but compostable.

Composite (pulp)Beginner60 min active96 h total

Paper pulp brick

Recycled paper pulp pressed into moulds and dried into lightweight bricks or boards. A home insulation or craft base.

Composite (pulp)Beginner45 min active96 h total

Leaf-mulch board

Autumn leaves blitzed with a binder and pressed into a soft, fibrous board.

Composite (pressed)Intermediate45 min active72 h total

Nutshell composite

Ground nutshell (walnut or hazel) pressed with a starch binder. Tough, dense, subtly marbled.

FinishBeginner20 min active1 h total

Beeswax polish

A soft wax polish for wood, dried bioplastics and leather. Rubs on warm, buffs to a gentle sheen.

FinishBeginner20 min active1 h total

Soy wax finish

A vegan counterpart to beeswax polish. Lower melting point and milder scent.

FinishIntermediate30 min active

Milk paint

A traditional paint of curds, lime and pigment. Matte, deep, fully natural.

FinishBeginner15 min active

Egg tempera

A medieval paint of egg yolk and pigment. Dries quickly, fine detail, long-lived.

FinishBeginner15 min active48 h total

Linseed oil finish

A drying oil finish that polymerises on exposure to air, producing a tough, water-resistant film on wood and some bioplastics.

PaperBeginner60 min active24 h total

Recycled hand-made paper

Waste paper pulped and set in a deckle to make fresh sheets. Absorbent, deckle-edged, suitable for printing and drawing.

PaperIntermediate180 min active72 h total

Plant fibre paper

Paper made from retted plant stems. Stronger and more textured than recycled paper.

Grown compositeIntermediate60 min active240 h total

Mycelium composite (home-scale)

Mushroom mycelium (from a grow kit) binds sawdust, hemp or straw into a solid, plastic-free shape after a week or so of growth.

Grown materialBeginner30 min active336 h total

SCOBY growing kit

Grow your own SCOBY to use for R016 leather. Sweet black tea, a starter culture, warmth and time.

Composite (pressed)Beginner30 min active18 h total

Pine cone tile

Pine cone scales pulled or ground, bound with a starch or gelatine paste and pressed into a textured tile. Carries the scent of pine resin and the shape of the scales themselves.

PaperBeginner35 min active12 h total

Tea-leaf paper

Spent tea leaves pulped with a smaller portion of waste paper, set in a deckle and pressed dry into thin, fragrant, tea-coloured sheets. The leaves give colour and texture; the paper gives strength.

Composite (pulp)Beginner30 min active24 h total

Cardboard pulp tile

Corrugated cardboard pulped and pressed into a thicker, sturdier board than recycled paper. The corrugations break into long, locking fibres that give the dried tile real strength.

TextileBeginner40 min active4 h total

Wool felt sheet

Wool fibres (fresh fleece, carded wool, or shredded wool scraps) bonded into a sheet by hot soapy water and gentle agitation. The scales on each wool fibre lock together into a coherent fabric, no spinning or weaving required.

Leather / sheetBeginner35 min active36 h total

Raw seaweed sheet

Whole foraged kelp or wrack rinsed of salt, blanched briefly, blended into a slurry and dried slowly into a thin, translucent sheet. Different from R005 alginate film, which uses purified powder; this version keeps the colour, fibre and faint smell of the sea.