How to Age Paper Using Tea

Опубликовал Admin

5-10-2016, 07:40

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Antique paper adds classic style to a craft project. You can use aged paper to augment a poem, invitation, scrap booking project or school project. It is possible to create the look of parchment with most types of paper using tea. This is sometimes known as tea staining, and it is also used to create the look of aged cloth. If you want to age paper, you can do it within an hour with a few household ingredients. This article will instruct you on how to age paper using tea.

Steps

Select your paper. You can use anything from fine papers to scrap booking papers to plain white copier paper. If the paper is extra thick, it may take longer to stain.
Print or write on your paper before you age it. The process will render the paper rugged and uneven, and the ink will not distribute well on the page.
Crumple your piece of paper into a ball and smooth it flat again. It will add to the appearance because the creases will mimic handmade parchment or vellum. Do not do this step if you want your paper to lie very flat for your project.
Place the paper on top of a rimmed cookie tray. Place the tray on a very flat surface, or the tea will puddle in a lower corner.
Set an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting, approximately 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.3 degrees Celsius).
Boil 2 cups (473 ml) of hot water in a microwave, stove top kettle or electric kettle. Pour it into a bowl.
Place 3 to 5 black tea bags in the water to brew. The more tea bags you brew, the darker your stain will be. Wait between 5 and 20 minutes to remove the tea bags and begin tea staining.
- The hotter the tea is, the more orange it will appear. Many older parchments have a slightly burnt orange hue. An orange spiced black tea may also create a warmer hue.
Apply the tea stain in 1 of the following 3 methods:
- Paint the tea on with a sponge brush. Apply it unevenly to the paper in order to make an older look.
- Apply the tea with 1 of the tea bags. Make sure the tea bag is not too hot before using. Brush it over paper, while allowing some places to be wetter than others. This will give a look of uneven aging. If the tea bag starts to come apart, throw it away and use another.
- Pour the tea directly onto the paper. Pour slowly and stop when it starts to pool. Make sure you don't pour too much. Tilt the cookie sheet so that all areas of the paper are in contact with the tea. This is the best method if you want to do a few sheets at a time, because you can set pieces of paper on top of each other and it will soak through.
Lift up the edge of the paper to check if the tea has soaked through to the back side. If it has not, apply it again with your method of choice.
Allow the tea to sit and soak for at least 5 minutes. Blot up any areas where the tea has pooled. If there is too much liquid in 1 area, it may create a hole when you attempt to use the paper.
Rub the outside edges of the paper. This will make the sharp edges look worn. You can rub other areas of the paper if you want to create holes.
Place the cookie sheet on the oven rack. Bake the sheet for 5 to 6 minutes. Take it out just as the paper starts to curl very slightly.
Remove the sheet from the oven. Loosen the edges from the cookie sheet with a fork or spatula while it is still warm. Lay it on another flat surface to cool.
- You can also allow the tea soaked sheet to air dry. It will take about 45 minutes for a piece of copier paper to dry. Make sure you weigh the edges down with pebbles or utensils, or the paper will curl.
Finished.

Alternate Method

Get a certain amount of tea bags, depending on paper. The rule is one tea bag per paper.
Fill a cup of water as if you are using it to heat it up for tea to drink. Which means, don't overfill it to the top or give it so little the teabags can't float.
Place the teabags in your cup of water.
Take the cup of water and place it in the microwave for one minute.
Once the cup of water is done heating up, let the tea bags sit in the water for one minute and pull them out of the cup and place it on the plate for ten minutes or until it cools. The teabag has to be cool enough for you to touch it without a problem.
Now, place the paper on a plate (before this you can crumple the paper up to make it look a little older).
Take a tea bag and squeeze it slightly so some tea(the liquid) falls onto the paper.
Paint the paper until the tea you have squeezed onto the paper is completely soaked in.
Repeat until your entire paper is stained with tea.
Let it dry off before handling it any further.

Tips

If the dried paper has curled too much, place it between 2 large, heavy books overnight.
You can replace the tea with brewed coffee for a darker stain. Follow the same process as listed above.
To create the effect of age spots, sprinkle instant coffee crystals around the paper after you have applied the tea. Allow it to sit for 2 minutes and then wipe it off with paper towels.
If the page you would like to antique is part of a journal, separate the pages using wax paper. Make sure to contain the tea as much as possible, and wipe up the extra with paper towels.
If you're writing in ink, make sure that it won't run when water touches it.
Put old newspapers under it while working. You don't want your house to get stained with tea!