Liquid Corn Starch

Disclaimer: This recipe is not intended to be eaten. It is a recipe for homemade starch. Take a look!

We used this recipe to make the book-themed backdrops for Jenny and Andy's wedding. We used some old, hinged closet doors. They were painted and then we added the pages from To Kill A Mockingbird. We used a paintbrush to apply the starch mixture to each page and adhere it to the door. Then a second coat of starch was added to seal the pages. It worked great! This starch was a much better alternative to the chemical-laden versions I found at the hardware store. It is easy, affordable, and a beautiful product.

2 TB cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water completely. Then slowly add the mixture into 3 3/4 cup boiling water, whisking continuously to avoid lumping. Bring the mixture back to a boil. It should be a viscous, opaque mixture. Remove from heat. Cover the pot and allow to cool completely. (I let mine stand overnight.) It is then ready to use!

• Allow the mixture to cool completely before use.
• Easy application with a large paintbrush. We also tried to "dredge" each page in a shallow paint tray and used our hands to "squeegee" the excess off. 
• This mixture is removable from solid surfaces with water. This can be a great advantage if you want to rearrange your pages. However, it is not great when working outside with potential rain! (Don't ask!) 
• High humidity can also release the pages.
• Seal all of the pages (or fabric, or whatever) with one final coat of starch.
• Don't worry if the children (or dog) tastes the starch. You can be confident in the contents because you make it!
• The pages will darken with the moisture of the starch. They will lighten again as they dry. Do a test page first to determine the shading.