how do i do the old looking paper affect? with the fire and everything, I'm scared I will burn myself!?

Question

You know how you burn the edges to make them curl and brown and look old? will i burn the house on fire??

Answer 1

The BEST and safest way to age paper doesn't involve any fire...

Make some dark tea, and brush it on the paper, or dip the paper into the tea. Repeat this until you get the desired color.

IF you decide you still wish to singe the edges, use a candle, and have a wet towel there to press the edges against to put out the flames and embers.

If you wish to make the paper "softer" to give it the feel of age, put in your dryer with some socks and a dollars worth of pennies. NOISY, but effective.

I've used this to create many stage props... scrolls, foreign or ancient cash, and aged documents.

Answer 2

While fire, ink pads, tea (coffee is quicker), all work; the fastest, safest, most reliable technique I've found is burnt umber paint mixed with glaze. Use more paint/less glaze on torn edges of paper to make them a little darker. Then add a little more glaze to paint mixture, paint this on the rest of the page. Let it sit for a little bit then wipe it off with a paper towel. The beauty of this technique is you can get it done in one step. You control how dark the paper is "aged" by how much glaze you use. For a lighter aged look use more glaze, darker less glaze. Also, the longer you leave the glaze/paint mixture on the darker it will be. Just make sure to clean it off before it dries.

Of course if you want the paper to look distressed you can crumple it and then semi-smooth it out, make some tears etc.

You can get 2ounce sizes of both acrylic burnt umber paint and glaze very reasonably at Wal-Mart or any craft store. That would be enough to age a ream of paper.

Good luck, sounds like a fun project.

Answer 3

First tear the edges of the paper.

Crumple the paper.

Take coffee and do the coffee method. Put the tea bag on it. Rub it all over the paper.

You can buy paper already made old, at a craft store.

You won't burn your house down I had to do this for a project too. Ask someone for help. If you are so scared go outside.

Answer 4

To avoid the "fire method" you can alternatively use stamping ink pads. These can be found in the craft stores in the rubber stamping department.

First tear the edges of the paper. Then take a small ink pad in a brown, gray or black color....whatever look you want.

Holding the paper in one hand, rub the ink pad along the torn edge of the paper very lightly. You can always add more color if you want to.

Another technique is to crumple the paper and rub the ink pad lightly over the surface to highlight the creases.

Practice on blank papers to get the hang of it before you actually use it for your project.

Answer 5

If the other two methods above don't work for you, use a candle but place it in a sink (preferably stainless steel), singe the edges and blow out almost immediately. Repeat until you've achieved the look you were striving for. Be careful :)

Answer 6

If you still want to use the fire method, go outside to an area of pavement or gravel with nothing nearby and use leather gloves.
L&N nut