How to give paper an antique look. How to create the “old paper” effect. How to age the edges of paper
The technique of aging paper is called “Distressing” (literally distress - “disaster”).
“Antique” sheets are widely used in scrapbooking, in the creation of original letters, invitations, and greeting cards. There are many aging methods, each of which will give your paper different shades and texture. You can create a torn edge on paper, tint it (with paints, inks), cover it with craquelure, or imitate age-old scuffs and scratches. The flight of fancy in this technique is not limited, although giving an antique look to your letters and postcards will be very exciting and not difficult.
I will describe and show one of the methods of aging with a coffee solution.
To work you will need:
* three teaspoons of instant coffee;
* glass of water;
* printer paper (you can take whatman paper or cardboard);
* place for drying;
* iron and unnecessary rag;
* candle;
* small scissors.
1. Dilute coffee in a glass of warm water, pour the solution into a wide container. Dip a sheet of paper. Then give it time to dry (you can lay it out on the sink or hang it outside the window, carefully pinning it).
2. When the sheet is dry, apply a few drops of the same solution to it; for greater effect, you can add a few coffee granules and blot with a damp cloth, this will create darker areas on the paper. Dry.
3. If you want to print text on a sheet, then iron the paper so that it becomes even and the printer does not “chew” it. Print the text.
4. Blot the paper again, now you can singe the edges with a candle or a hot electric stove (if you wish, you can hold the paper over the candle, just do it carefully so as not to burn it, then darkened spots will form).
5. When the paper dries a little and becomes slightly damp, fold it four times, then gently roll the sheet with your hands, as if wrung out a rag, thus simulating bruising. You can scratch the paper with a needle, and then rub these places (dry) with burnt ash or the edge of burnt paper (the scratches will appear).
6. At the folds (when folded into four), the paper should be slightly rubbed between the cutting blades of the scissors. Do this carefully; if it suddenly breaks, don’t worry, this effect will make it more believable as an antique. You can wipe it with a foot grater if you don’t have specialized tools.
Experiment with colors (you can make a solution with green tea or hibiscus), try dipping a leaf in milk and burning it over a candle.
Paper aging techniques
The most common and popular techniques are methods of aging paper and other materials, as this allows you to achieve maximum stylization of old pages. All types of scuffs and dents are welcome here. We are not afraid, we press three times and remember, the more terrible the paper looks, the better!
“Distressing” (literally distress - “disaster”)- this is the name of the technique of aging pages. This name brings together many types of aging. This includes creating torn edges, craquelure, tinting, creating scuffs and scratches, and using ink.
Tea-Coffee-Let's Draw, or Techniques for Aging Paper
Let's take a closer look at techniques for aging paper and photographs, creating torn edges and scratches.
If you want to decorate your work with old sheets, you don't have to go to flea markets and used bookstores looking for old sheets, newspapers and torn books. Create all this antiquity with your own hands. It won't take much time, and all the work will be done over a cup of coffee! But be careful not to confuse the cup you drink from with the cup you draw from.
Cardboard (thick paper) aging technique
1 . “Wash” a sheet of cardboard with a tea solution. To do this, soak a sponge in tea, then squeeze it out a little and rub all the remaining liquid onto a sheet of cardboard. Leave the cardboard to dry completely.
2 . Repeat the procedure. But now, without waiting for the cardboard to dry, darken the edges. To do this, drip some coffee with a brush. Let the stains spread a little, remove excess liquid with a paper napkin. Dry the cardboard a little.
3. Use a large wire brush to scratch along the edges of the sheet. To make everything look natural, make arbitrary semicircular movements.
4. Use a brush to apply coffee to the scratches. You will immediately see the entire “drawing” that you scratched. If there is not enough damage somewhere, dry the cardboard first, and then repeat everything.
5. To achieve the same wear and aging, the middle of the sheet should also be treated. Use a large plastic brush to scrub the middle in a circular motion. You will have a small layer of cardboard removed. At the same time, try to make the rubbing look uneven and chaotic.
6 . Dry the cardboard and then remove all paper pellets from it. You can trim the edges a little. Pull out small pieces with a wire brush. Work very carefully so as not to overdo it.
Aging technique for thin paper
1 . Remember the sheet of paper very much. Scrunch it up and straighten it out. Repeat this several times until the entire sheet is covered with small folds.
2 . Straighten the sheet and smooth it with your hands. Prepare a cup of strong tea leaves and a sponge.
3. “Wash” the paper with tea leaves. Wet the sponge and rub it over the paper several times so that the tea leaves seep into all the cracks. Dry the paper a little.
4 . Use a brush to darken the edges of the paper. To do this, drip tea leaves around the edges. And again dry the paper a little, but do not let it dry completely.
5 .Use a thin brush to make small dots of black ink. Apply them randomly around the edges. The dots can be of different sizes. Place them without thinking, but at the same time without getting carried away.
6 . Using a wide wet brush, blur the dots a little so that the mascara smudges slightly and smears a little somewhere.
7 . Use a sponge to blot away any excess moisture and add additional prints at the same time. The sponge will absorb excess ink and print it somewhere else.
8 . Use a small wire brush to “wipe” the edges of the sheet. To get a natural, old, torn edge, brush from the center of the sheet outward.
9. Add small brush damage in other areas of the sheet. Then leave the paper on the table until it dries completely. And from the dry paper you can brush off the pellets and tear off the edges somewhere if you wish.
To make an original invitation, postcard, note for a loved one, friend, or as an addition to a gift, you don’t have to be an artist and draw elegant drawings, you can simply make high-quality aged paper. You can achieve a good result even with your own hands and without extra effort, especially since there are many ways.
Aging with tea
The effect of aged paper can be achieved using regular tea bags. To do this, you need to pour 4 tea bags with 500 milliliters of boiling water and leave it to brew. After cooling completely, you need to remove the tea bags and use them to apply tea to a sheet of paper. You can also pour the tea into a shallow but wide bowl (a baking tray with sides) and place a leaf in it. The sheet should lie completely and not bend anywhere. To enhance the scuffed effect, you just need to rub a tea bag on the paper. After the paper is completely saturated, the remaining liquid should be removed using a paper towel or sponge. After these procedures, the sheet must be dried; to do this, place it in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 3 minutes.
With coffee
Using regular instant or ground coffee (grounds), you can age both a regular sheet and paper with text. Printing on aged paper is quite difficult, so you should use ready-made (with text) paper for the process.
You need to dilute 3 teaspoons of coffee in 250 milliliters of hot water. The solution must be poured into a wide container with sides and left until it cools completely. Then, for 3-4 minutes, a sheet of paper should be dipped into the resulting liquid and then dried. For a better effect, you can drop a few drops of the solution on a dry leaf or apply a small amount of coffee granules on it, after which they should be lightly blotted with a damp cloth. To imitate bruising, a wet sheet must be carefully turned, then straightened and dried.
In the microwave or oven
When exposed to heat, the paper begins to darken, so to age it, you must first dip the sheet in water at room temperature or a tea (coffee) solution. Then you should “bake” it until the color changes (5-7 minutes) in the microwave on low or 5-10 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees. After this, the paper can be ironed additionally with an iron, but even without this, the thermal effect of the oven or microwave does not deform its surface too much, so you can do without ironing in order to preserve the wrinkles that are natural for old paper.
Depending on the baking time, the color of the paper will vary. Its distribution is quite even. As shown in the photo, the darkest color is the result of the longest heat exposure.
With the help of fire
This method is used mainly if the paper needs to be given the appearance of having survived a fire. This effect can also be combined with the above methods and fire treated paper previously aged with coffee or tea. The aging process will be carried out with the help of a candle, but this should be done over a sink in order to quickly extinguish the sheet in case of fire. The candle must be placed steadily in the middle of the sink and lit. The sheet must be held above the fire at a height of at least 10 cm. The paper cannot be kept in one place for a long time, otherwise it may ignite.
Only the edges of previously aged paper can be treated with fire; this combination will add a shabby look to the paper.
Application of milk
To give paper an old look using milk, you will need a product with high fat content, or more precisely, the color of the paper will depend on its percentage. If desired, the sheet can be gently crumpled, then straightened out and a sufficient amount of milk applied to both sides with a brush. You can also use a spray bottle for application. After it has been thoroughly saturated with liquid, the sheet should be placed on a flat surface to dry. After that, the paper must be ironed using an iron, and the temperature should be high. During this aging process, light brown spots will appear on the sheet.
With the help of the sun
The most natural, but rather long-lasting method of aging is the solar method. To do this, on hot summer days you should put, or best of all, hang the sheets in a place where the sun will affect them all day long. The first result will be visible after a few days. The advantage of this method is the uniform aging of the paper sheet, its integrity and less damage. This sheet will last longer.
Coloring
For this method you will need 1% brilliant green (5-8 drops) or iodine. To prepare the solution, add the required amount of the selected substance to a container with 200 milliliters of cold water, the number of drops depends on the desired color (iodine does not give a brown color, in the end you will get a slightly purple tint). The solution should be mixed, but if this is not done, there is a chance that beautiful stains will be visible on the sheet. Pre-crumpled paper should be immersed in liquid for 1 minute or immediately removed to obtain drips. Then the sheet should be laid out on a flat surface to dry. When the paper is completely dry, it must be ironed.
Coloring can be done in a similar way using potassium permanganate. The color will be purple. Also, these three substances can be combined in different proportions, thereby resulting in paper of unusual shades.
Aged paper looks very stylish, it is pleasant and interesting to write on, and it is irreplaceable in decoration. How to achieve the effect of “old” paper? Ordinary, accessible means will help with this. How to age paper? Let's consider several options.
Method 1 - coffee
How to age paper with coffee? To get started, prepare everything you need:
- a sheet of white, still “young” paper;
- approximately 5 tablespoons of instant coffee;
- a couple of mugs of boiling water;
- a tray or container for coloring paper;
- place for drying sheets (newspapers, tray);
- iron.
After preparation, take a sheet and remember it a little (you don’t need to wrinkle it). Dilute the coffee in water and lower the leaf completely into the solution for 30 seconds. - a few minutes. It is not necessary to take 5 tablespoons of coffee, you can have more or less. The more coffee you use, the darker and more intense the color will be. After this, carefully remove the sheet and leave it to dry. To give a greater effect, you can, before the paper is completely dry, sprinkle it with pre-ground coffee granules, even press some into the sheet a little so that stains remain. We are waiting for the sheet to dry completely. Then you can iron the sheet with an iron and burn the edges a little.
Method 2 - tea
How to age paper using tea? Everything that was in the previous version will come in handy, only instead of coffee we’ll make tea. You can take black or green tea. You understand that black tea will give the paper a darker color, green tea will give it a lighter color. To obtain the usual effect, 3-4 tablespoons of tea per 0.5 liter is enough. water.
We crumple the sheet if necessary. We brew tea in boiling water, lower the leaf completely there for a while (don’t hold it for too long, the paper may begin to “be capricious” and tear). After this, we dry the sheet and iron it. The edges can also be slightly burned.
Method 3 - milk
How to age paper using milk? You need to take a sheet and carefully “paint” it with milk on both sides using a cotton swab. After this, we leave the sheet to dry, and after drying, iron it.
Method 4 - fire
The paper must be held over the candle flame, but so that it does not ignite! Remember fire safety! You just need to place the paper as close to the fire as possible, and it will do its job. It looks impressive when the paper has fire stains in different places.
Method 5 - Sun
The simplest option. Place the paper on the windowsill or balcony on a sunny day. In a couple of days, the sun will age the paper and give it a uniform yellowish tint of antiquity.
Method 6 - coloring
It's not really aging, it's more about turning the paper into beautiful colors. So, brilliant green will give a beautiful green color, potassium permanganate will give pink, and iodine will give lilac. The principle of staining is the same as for aging, but you need to be careful, especially with brilliant green. Protect your hands with gloves and be careful not to let paint droplets damage your furniture. It is better to use something unnecessary as a drying stand, because the stains may not be wiped off. When the paper dries after coloring, it can be ironed and used for your own purposes.
Hello, friends!
The creative team of the ShkolaLa blog welcomes you! There is a new master class in the crafts section. Not simple, but experimental. That is, we carried out some experiments and took photographs at the same time. So we got a master class called “How to age paper?”
Of course, a completely normal question arises: “Why make it old?” And then the answer appears!
Well, firstly, such paper can be used to make interesting unusual leaves, for a notebook, for example.
Secondly, it was from such aged paper that we made them.
Thirdly, such “old” paper will make excellent treasure maps that can be used in preparing and conducting.
As you understand, the thing is valuable, but how to make it?
And we will tell you about this now. And we’ll even show you! We tested three different aging methods. We used different coloring solutions:
- milk;
- coffee.
But first things first.
So, we took three pieces of paper with text printed on them.
Then they carefully tore off the edges of the leaves with their fingers. Please note that it is better to do this not with scissors, but with your fingers, it will look more like old leaves.
Then these leaves were crushed into lumps.
And then we straightened out our experimental samples. They already look quite old.
But this is not the end of the experiment. Now let's prepare the solutions. Pour regular tea into the first container. In the second - milk. In the third - strong coffee. All our solutions are at room temperature.
Then we lower the sheets into the solutions. And leave them there for 15 minutes so that they are well soaked.
After 15 minutes, remove the leaves and dry. You can, of course, hang them on a string to dry, but to make everything quick, we dried them with a hairdryer. The leaves became only slightly damp. Here's what they look like.
At this stage, it is clear that the tea-colored leaf looks the brightest, the coffee one looks a little paler, and the “milk” leaf has practically not changed, remaining white.
Let's continue the experiment. First, let's take care of our milky leaf. They took it and ironed it with an iron. Oddly enough, this had no effect. The leaf hasn't darkened a bit. We were even a little upset. But then they took a candle and held a leaf over it. And then a miracle happened! He changed color.
Attention! This must be done together with your parents. Since the leaf heats up quickly, it tends to burst into flames. Be careful!
Here, as an example, a leaf without treatment and a leaf aged with milk are shown. The difference is obvious.
Now let's start working with the “coffee” leaf. He turned out to be quite dark anyway. But we additionally ironed the sheet with an iron. It didn't change the color much. But some dark stains appeared on it. It feels like the iron has smeared printer ink onto the sheet.
But the aging effect was still achieved. Look what a difference it makes with an untreated leaf. And one more advantage of the “coffee” paper is that it smells very tasty.
And finally, we proceed to the “tea” leaf. In our opinion, it turned out to be the most beautiful. The "oldest" one. Even the torn edges turned out a little darker. After some additional ironing, it got even better.
This is what “tea” paper looks like compared to regular paper.
And here are all the results of our experiments together.
Choose the option that you like best and age the paper with your own hands.
We wish you creative success!
And successful experiments!
Aged paper is used to decorate various crafts: postcards, albums, etc. The aging process itself is called distressing, its purpose is to give the sheet of paper a characteristic color and texture. Let's look at several methods of distress that can be used at home.
1. Sun rays
The sheet of paper should be placed so that it receives direct sunlight. This is the simplest and surest way of distressing: the paper will age evenly, while eliminating the possibility of accidental damage to the sheet. The only drawback is the length of the process.
2. Brown pencil
A small piece of paper is densely colored with a soft dark brown pencil, and with the same pencil an uneven outline is applied along the edges of the workpiece. Then the sheet is rubbed with colored paper, achieving an aged effect.
3. Coffee
For half a glass of boiling water you need to take 2-3 tablespoons of coffee (preferably natural ground). After cooling, the paper is placed in any flat container with a side (for example, a baking sheet) and coffee is poured in. The liquid is evenly distributed over the entire surface using a brush or sponge. The effect of “motley old spots” can be achieved by sprinkling instant coffee granules on top of the leaf. The paper is left for 10 minutes, then excess moisture is removed with a paper towel and dried in the oven or microwave.
4. Tea
First you need to brew tea (2 bags per glass of water) and leave for 45 minutes. After this, the tea is applied to the leaf using a bag; in some places, the paper can be lightly rubbed, this will enhance the “old age” effect. Excess liquid is removed with a towel, and the sheet is dried in the oven or microwave.
5. Milk
Using a brush, milk is applied to the sheet, allowed to dry, and then ironed. The higher the fat content of the milk, the darker the paper will be.
6. Craquelure varnish
The entire surface of the sheet is covered with varnish. As it dries, the varnished surface cracks, giving the paper an aged tint. When choosing this method, you must take into account that the inscription must be made in advance.
7. Potassium permanganate
Several granules of potassium permanganate are dissolved in water; the color of the solution should be dark pink. The sheet is placed in the solution and left for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the paper and the desired effect, and then dried. Work must be done with gloves.
Processing the edges
Antique sheets have an uneven edge, so the edges of a sheet of artificially aged paper also need to be processed. To do this, use sandpaper, a grater, a hard cloth or a sponge. The edges of the sheet can be wetted and rubbed, or torn with your hands, and then carefully scorched over an open fire. Using a candle flame, you can make a few dark spots in the middle of the sheet, but you must be careful when doing this, as the paper may catch fire.
If a sheet of paper is crumpled and then smoothed out and subjected to distress, the aging effect can be significantly enhanced.
When processing a sheet with tea or coffee, you can add blades of grass or cereal to the painting solution, thanks to which a special pattern will appear on the paper.
An interesting effect is obtained if you rub the sheet with a wax candle and drip wax in several places.
Several methods can be used simultaneously to age paper.
