Tea Staining paper

Recently I have been experimenting with tea staining paper for various art projects, namely my junk journals and mixed media projects. Joseph has also been intrigued by the process and has made a treasure map with some of the paper I made!

If you are interested in trying this out at home for yourself or for a cheap and easy kids project over the summer holidays check out this quick step by step guide!

Choose your papers. I chose various sheets, lined and unlined from old notebooks, envelopes, scrap paper and colouring sheet paper. You can dye pretty much any paper, but be careful of paper that has been printed on with an ink jet printer as the colour will run.
Brew your tea. I brewed my tea in a teapot using about 6 tea bags as I wanted a strong colour. You can also use coffee instead.
Set out some trays- I just used baking trays but you could use any large container with sides.
Place your paper in the trays and pour over the brewed tea. I put several sheets in each tray but ensured that each individual piece was totally covered and submerged on both sides.
Leave to dye for at least 5 minutes.
Take your papers out of the tea and leave to dry or dry with a hairdryer which is what i did with mine. Whilst the paper is wet you can do things like tear the edges which is what I did for Joseph’s treasure map.
Once the paper is dry you can use it for whatever arts project you choose!
I also save the teabags from the dying process, I leave them to dry, then empty the contents and use the tea bags for embellishments in mixed media projects, you can even paint miniature painting on them!
To further the ageing process on Joseph’s treasure map I burned holes in his paper with matches- be careful when doing this and make sure a grown up is available to help. Joseph then drew his designs on the “aged” paper making a very realistic Pirate treasure map! And I will be using my aged paper in the creation of junk journals and mixed media projects such as this one that I made for a special friend.Let me know if you give it a try and what ideas you come up with!