Aging Paper and Lace

Travelers Notebooks, Journals and Junk Journals, are all a hot trend right now, and they happen to be my current craft obsession. I can’t stop making them, as you can see from the pic below. I have given many of them away as gifts and have some in my Etsy store as well. Some have laminated covers, like those shown here, and others are made from old books I find at the thrift store. I enjoy taking these old, worn books and recycling the book covers. My favorite theme right now, is all things vintage, with lace trims, and aged paper.

A fun technique I use, is taking simple copy paper, dipping them in some strong hot coffee or tea, than baking them in a very low heat oven. They come out so beautiful and vintage looking. The fibers of the paper expand and when it comes out of the oven, it feels crisp and well.....aged. This method works very well for lace, ribbon, cheesecloth and fabric. There are other methods such as, distress inks and dyes, but coffee and tea staining is most often used. Here are some instructions on how I do it:

1. Heat some water and pour into a large baking pan to about 1". I will use two or three pans to speed the process. Add instant coffee, the strength depends on how dark you want the paper. If you are using tea, brew about 8 teabags in a small pot of water and after you are satisfied with the color, pour it into the pan.
2. I lay some old towels on my counter to lay the wet paper on and to help absorb some of the liquid before putting it into the oven. I just simply slide the paper into the hot liquid, I can usually put 5 or more sheets at a time, let it sit for a minute, then carefully pick them up and set it on the towel or layers of paper towels.
3. Next, I have my oven set at about 200 degrees, and I just lay the paper directly on the the racks and bake them for about 5-8 minutes. You could also dry them with a heat gun, blow dryer or even air dry them. The oven is just the quicker way and gives the paper a crisp texture.

The picture below illustrates what 20 pieces of white copy paper looks like before it is stained, and what it looks like after. Notice the amount of volume the paper seems to have after it has been stained and baked to dry.

There are so many uses for these beautiful aged paper. Besides becoming pages in a journal or notebook, you can print out invitations, make cute vintage looking tags that you can hang from a gift bag, or just as a background for old pictures. I just made this cute card using the aged  paper on the inside and some of my dyed ribbon. It is difficult to see but the tiny "miss you" words on the inside was taken from an old discarded book.

I also coffee dyed some ribbon, and they came out so pretty. On these, I also experimented with other inks and even felt markers. I rubbed some red felt marker on a glass mat, sprayed a bit of water and sopped it up with about a yard of the ribbon. Here is a before and after of the ribbon. I wad up the ribbon into a tight ball and secure it with a rubber band. After it dries, you get crinkled ribbon.

I want to share some photos of my newest Vintage Journal. I tried a technique I have been seeing a lot, sewing some elements of my journal on my sewing machine. It came out so beautiful. It will be for sale in my Etsy Store. I hope you go and check it out.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LovePaperHugs?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Have a blessed day everyone! Happy Crafting!