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Hi everyone, this week I wanted some old looking paper for a decor idea. Looking at the store, or going online and looking the paper can be expensive! So I decided to try my hand at making my own “old looking” paper from ingredients I already have at home. I am referring to regular sheets of paper that look old. Not torn edges or anything fancy like that.
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Supplies:
White printer paper
1-2 tea bags
mug – with hot water
Something to put the paper on – I used silicone mats.
paper towels ( in case of a mess)
~ If you would like to purchase your own “old looking paper” and decide this project is not for you, here’s a link to some on Amazon.
Or
You will start with filling your mug with hot water. About half way is good. Put your tea bags in the water and leave them for a few minutes. In the mean time, lay your silicone mats out on the counter or table and put a piece of paper on top of them. I did 2-3 pieces of paper at a time. If you’d like, you can also crinkle up the paper into a ball to get the wrinkly look, open it up and lay it on the mat.
Now we will take a tea bag out of the water, squeeze a little bit of the hot, tea out so you don’t get too much on the paper. Then take the tea bag and gently rub it up and down the paper, I did that lightly then I dabbed the paper with the tea bag also.
When your finished, let the paper sit to dry. When it’s almost dry or fully dry, flip it over and do the other side with the tea bag. Then let that dry. When mine was 100% dry, I put them underneath a big book. Not to get the wrinkles out, just to flatten the sides a little. It did a good job too. No complaints here!
Voila! Here’s how mine turned out. The 2 on the left I did with tea, The one on the right I wanted to see how it would turn out with coffee. The pictures really don’t do justice.
The first time I tried this a couple days ago, I printed out a free printable from Pinterest on the paper I made with tea. I just need to frame it. It printed a little crooked but its ok. But this is one thing the paper is good to use on. You can see the difference in the paper from being white on the edge. Please send me your pictures! I’d love to see how they’d turn out. 🙂
Arts &Crafts, How-To's, Upcycling & Repurposing 