This is something my mother used to do with plain paper and a vegetable shortening like Crisco to make translucent paper backings for silhouette pictures for her Sunday School classes. This was back in the days when a scrapbook was folded newsprint paper stapled into a plain cover, into which you glued photos, newspaper clippings and the like, with hand-written comments: no fancy paper, stickers, miniature embellishments etc....
Technically this is not a trash project unless you happen to have saved some grease-spotted paper from the bottom of a donut box,
When you are satisfied with the overall transparency, use a paper towel to soak up any leftover oil, then lightly spray one side with a matte sealer, and when dry, spray the other side. Taa-dah! :-) A sheet of semi-translucent paper for Japanese screens and lanterns, window blinds and all sorts of things. Add colour with a thin wash, sparkles or anything else you can come up with and have fun, 'cause it's better (and cheaper) to make your own! :-)