What's the best way to "age" regular paper for a child's report?

Question

We're looking for a non stinky way to make the paper look very old.

Should he print his report out first, or age the paper first?

Answer 1

Soak it in tea.

Answer 2

Okay, you've heard of 'ragging', right? It's a technique used for faux finishes when painting walls.

Bunch up a rag. Dip it in tea or coffee. Gently blot on the paper. It will make patterns and be darker in some places than others, which is how some old paper looks. If you really want to print the paper first, so that the writing looks old too, that's the way least likely to make the ink run.

If you don't care whether the writing looks old, age the paper first and then print on it. Soak it for a while in a pan full of tea. Coffee will work for this too but it will get very dark. Make sure the paper is thick and heavy so that it doesn't fall apart.

Either way, it will wrinkle up a little while it's drying ... if you don't want that to happen, put something heavy over it to keep it flat. But old paper does wrinkle a little, so if you're writing it by hand that would be fine. Most printer can also handle wrinkled paper if that's what you're doing.

Answer 3

Tea stain

To tea stain the paper make a solution of tea 2 times stronger then the recipe calls for... Pour into a shollow pan (a cake pan or baking dish will do.. be sure to drop some of the tea grounds onto the paper so get a variation in color with some spots being much darker than others... once the paper has gotten to the color desired remove lay flat and dry...

To age the edges place the tea stained paper into a paper sandwich 4-5 sheets od paer above 4-5 sheets below and use an emory board (nail file) to roughen the edges the extra sheets add stability making it eaier to roughed the edges...

Or you can go t a pecialty paper store they have varieties of paper designed to look old fresh out of the package...

Type or write the report on the page after the staining or the ink used may run...

Answer 4

It depends. Sometimes if you do the report first then age it with tea, the lettering can come out blurred because the ink will run. But if you age the paper first then let it dry and write the report is may not look as authentic. If you want to go for the most authentic look possible then you can write the report first and carefully dab a tea soaked towel over the papers one at a time. Do one layer of dabbing, then let it dry, then start the next session till you achieve the look you want. I think that if you just take the shortcut and age the paper first the report will look fine for a simple school assignment. It's not like you're submitting it to the Smithsonian! :)

Answer 5

soak it in tea for 5 minutes let it dry completely, then crumple it up real good after you crumple it then burn the edges carefully and then I think you should do the report. I had fun doing that as a child and I did my report first the first time and it never came out rite so we did everything to the paper the night before and the next morning we re did it and it was better.

Answer 6

Take a piece or two of copy paper, run a soaking wet teabag over it. Wait for it to dry. The run it through the printer. Don't crumple it first or it may get stuck.

Answer 7

ok, this is great i do this for my craft store. you need to soak it with tea or coffee, just like the others suggested. you can also bake it in the oven at 200 degrees until it dries. burning the edges is a great idea too. just paint the tea or coffee on with a brush you don't want it to wet that it will rip. buy instant coffee and mix with some warm water.

Answer 8

tea, coffee, and burn the edges a bit, it always works for me

Answer 9

tea makes it look really old.

Answer 10

crumple and burn the edges