How to make newsprint at home. How to quickly and efficiently "age" paper at home

Hello, friends!

The creative team of the ShkolaLa blog welcomes you! In the crafts section, a new master class. Not simple, but experimental. That is, we set up some experiments and at the same time took pictures. So we got a master class called "How to age paper?"

Of course, a completely normal question arises: “Why make it old?” And then there is the answer!

Well, firstly, such a piece of paper can be used in scrapbooking in order to make interesting unusual leaves, for a notebook, for example.

Secondly, it was from such aged paper that we got.

Thirdly, such “old” paper will make excellent treasure maps that can be used in preparing and holding a pirate party.

As you understand, the thing is valuable, but how to make it?

And we will talk about this now. And we'll even show you! We tested three different aging methods. Various dye solutions were used:

1. milk;
2. coffee.

But first things first.

So, we took three pieces of paper with the text printed on them.

Then, with your fingers, carefully cut off the edges of the leaves. Please note that it is better to do this not with scissors, but with your fingers, so it will be more like old leaves.

Then they crushed these leaves into lumps.

And then straightened out our experimental samples. They already look pretty old.

But this is not the end of the experiment. Now let's prepare the solutions. Pour tea into the first container, the usual tea leaves. The second is milk. In the third - strong coffee. All of 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 saturated.

After 15 minutes, the leaves are removed and dried. You can, of course, hang them on a string to dry, but we dried them with a hair dryer to make everything quick. The leaves are only slightly damp. Here's what they look like.

At this stage, it is clear that the leaf dyed with tea looks the brightest, the coffee is a little paler, and the “milk” leaf has not changed much, and remains white.

Let's continue the experiment. First, let's take care of our milk leaf. They took it and ironed it. Oddly enough, this had no effect. The leaf hasn't faded at all. We even got 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 with the parents. Since the leaf heats up quickly, and strives to flare up. Be careful!

Here, for example, a sheet without processing and a sheet aged with milk are shown. The difference is obvious.

Now let's get to work with the "coffee" leaf. He's pretty dark as it is. But we additionally ironed the sheet with an iron. It didn't change color much. But there were some dark stains on it. The feeling that the iron smeared paint from the printer on the sheet.

But the effect of aging was still achieved. Look at the difference with the raw leaf. And one more plus of the “coffee” paper is that it smells very tasty.

And finally, proceed to the "tea" leaf. He, in our opinion, turned out to be the most beautiful. The most "old". Even the torn edges turned out a little darker. After additional ironing, it became 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 more and age the paper with your own hands.

We wish you creative success!

And good luck with your experiments!

How to age paper? This question often worries those who are fond of scrapbooking and lovers of original messages. The article will tell you how to do it at home.

This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.

Are you over 18 already?

How to age paper? Highlights

There are many ways to make this effect using improvised means. You can also do without them at all, using the natural energy of the sun. At home, you can age a sheet of paper in just a few minutes or in a few hours, including the drying time of the craft. For this you need to have:

• paper that is subject to aging;
• bath for soaking;
• pigment;
• tweezers.

Depending on what effect is expected, the pigment is also selected. Even a child can make aged paper with his own hands. It is only important that he does not use lighters and candles to process the edges of the sheet. These tools are recommended for use by those who have reached the age of 18.

To make aged paper, you must first wrinkle it with your hands. You can skip this step and move on to the next one. Besides the fact that it can be wrinkled by hand, it can be scratched with nails, torn near the edges or bent in any direction. For greater compliance, it is recommended to spray the surface with water from a spray bottle. When mechanical damage is done, it is necessary to proceed to its aging.

The sheet can be used blank or already with a drawing or an inscription. It is advisable to print the inscription on the printer, and not write by hand. The edges are also recommended to be treated with sandpaper to create a slight abrasion, or with candles / lighters to create traces of a transferred fire. If you leave the edges smooth, then you will not be able to fully convey the influence of time.

Artificially aged paper will become the basis for creating scrapbooking photo albums or for writing invitations.

All methods where it is necessary to use water require time for the craft to dry. To finish the aging procedure quickly, heat treatment of the surface can be used. This could be using an iron or a microwave oven.

It is not recommended to make such paper for examination. This is rather a comic version of adding years to the sheets. All sheets with and without text can be aged. If the text has already been applied, then you should carefully monitor the time spent in the solution of the craft. If you overdo it, then the text will deteriorate, and you will have to do everything again. Things are a little easier with clean sheets. With a long stay in the solution, they can spread in the hands, so you should always adhere to the specified time and not exceed it, wanting to achieve an even greater effect.

If you want to make the effect of antiquity in an unusual color, then you can use brilliant green. Just a few drops in a glass of water will make the solution rich and beautiful. If you want to achieve stains of color on the surface, then you do not need to stir the brilliant green. Instead of brilliant green, you can take potassium permanganate. A few crystals are recommended to be dissolved in a glass of water, and a leaf is placed in the solution.

If you are interested in how else to give an unusual color to paper, then it is dipped in water and placed on a rusty surface. Over time, rust appears on it.

If you want to use the most traditional methods of aging, then you will need tea and coffee. If you do not want to dry them, then use the oven for baking. To do this, put the prepared sheet on a baking sheet. Its edges should not go beyond the baking sheet. The oven should be turned on at 90 degrees and start applying tea or coffee brewing on paper. To evenly distribute the pigment, use a brush or foam rubber sponge. When the oven is hot, place the baking sheet with paper in it for 10 minutes. During this time, the paper will have time to color and dry. If a little paint is poured onto the bottom of the baking sheet, then this is not a problem. It will be absorbed onto the wrong layer of the craft.

In order to properly shape coffee-treated paper, it must be rubbed with coffee beans in some places. This will create an even greater effect of antiquity and the ruthless influence of time on things.

You can view available paper aging options online. There are many videos that go into detail about each of them. If you want to achieve the maximum effect, and time does not play a role, then you can put the paper for 10 years and forget about it. To give years, you can do without paints and tools. If the sun is outside, then the leaf can be left in the sun for several days. In summer, the process will go much faster than in spring. If during these few days the sun will hide the clouds and it will rain, then the process will be delayed.

Loose tea should be used for brewing. It will evenly transfer color. A couple of tablespoons of tea leaves should be poured with a glass of boiling water and left for 10 minutes. Then it must be filtered. Pour tea into the prepared bath and carefully place the paper there. We wait 2 minutes and take it out. On a flat surface, it is recommended to lay out the paper and leave to dry completely. If desired, in some places you can apply a few drops of tea leaves. This will create an uneven surface with a realistic look.

Creating the effect of antiquity with coffee is very similar to the previous version. First, strong coffee is prepared. To do this, 5 teaspoons of ground coffee are poured into 200 ml of water and infused for 10 minutes. Coffee must be filtered and poured into the bath. Place a wrinkled or whole leaf there and leave for 10 minutes. After the specified period of time has elapsed, the sheet is removed and dried in a natural way on a flat surface.

If you want to make spots on paper, then you can use high-fat milk (it is better to take homemade). Milk should be applied with a brush, and after drying, iron the paper with an iron. Under the influence of high temperatures, dark brown spots appear.

How to age paper in the microwave?

To age paper in the microwave, you need to place the sheet in a container and put everything in the microwave. The temperature must be at least 200 degrees. First, the craft must be moistened with tea or coffee. You can make the effect of antiquity with an iron without using other methods or in combination with them. If you use an iron, then you need to stock up on time and patience to successfully complete the work. Sheets are baked in the oven along with the solution, and the finished product is obtained at the output. After that, it is recommended to leave the paper for half an hour, and then proceed to drawing or writing text.

How to age paper without water?

If there is no desire to mess with water when creating crafts, then it can be done in a dry way. It involves the use of dry pigments for aging. You can take the neck of a pastel-colored pencil and crumble it. By rubbing it is necessary to apply the resulting powder to the surface with different intensity. If you take several pencil colors, for example, yellow and gray, you will get even better to convey the influence of time. It doesn’t matter how you want to do the craft, (without coffee or with it) the result will be an excellent result. You can ask the question: “Why bother creating antiquities on paper at all, if it can be done faster with the help of Photoshop?” But the process of creating at home is very pleasing with the result, because every time new patterns, stains and colors are obtained.

How to age the edges of the paper?

Finishing the edges is just as important as finishing the entire sheet. If you want to create the effect of transferring a fire, then you should set fire to the edges with a candle or a lighter. But this is very dangerous, so it's best to do it over the sink. In case of arson of the entire craft, you need to turn on the water and prevent the spread of flame.

Scrapbooking is a popular technique among crafters. This is how unique photo albums and books are created using photographs. This is not just a photo album, but life stories. It is quite logical that the effect of aging of elements is often used here. Photographs, newspaper clippings, letters may be deliberately aged. To do this, use the methods listed above. Using several methods in one photo album will only decorate it and make it more fun.

Aged paper is popular with lovers of various types of needlework: scrapbooking, decoupage, as well as those who like to create original things. A vintage-style wedding invitation on aged paper will match the overall mood of the celebration. A handmade greeting card is best made on aged paper. Use 19th-century fonts that give the letters swirls like pen and ink. Place on the postcard poems of your own composition, glorifying the beauty of the one to whom it will be addressed. And this will impress a girl much more than a huge bouquet of flowers or a teddy bear on half a sofa.

In what style direction is aged paper used

Paper is different from paper, this also applies to aged paper. Depending on the style in which the craft will be made, the method of aging paper is selected. To date, the most popular and used styles are the following:

1. Vintage style (vintage). It consists in giving things a false antiquity. The style is characterized by heavy tones of beige and brown colors. It should give the impression that the paper, under the influence of sunlight and time, has darkened, scuffed, frayed edges and burned in some places (it is assumed that a lit candle fell on the paper). The optimal method of “aging” paper is distressing, for which strong brewed coffee, ink, sandpaper, and an ink pad are used.
2. Heritage (legacy). In fact, this is an analogue of the vintage style, only used for decorating family albums and portrait and thematic photographs. And it is not the paper that grows old, but the photographs themselves. For example, when the younger generation, surprisingly similar to the great-grandmother, is placed in the photo next to their ancestor. For less contrast, photos are made older by the heritage method.
3. Shabby Chic style. It is characterized by pastel shades (pale pink, blue, pale green, beige), wrinkling of paper, the effect of cracks, applying primer to paper, and curled edges.

What are the techniques for giving the effect of antiquity to paper

There are special techniques that can recreate a particular effect.

1. Craquelure is the effect of creating a crack in a lacquered or primed finish. Recreate the illusion of cracks in paintings. In ancient times, craquelure (cracks) appeared in paintings due to a violation of technology. For example, due to insufficient primer, the lower layers of paint absorbed moisture from subsequent new layers, as a result of which they quickly dried out and cracked. There are special craquelure paints and varnishes that, when applied to paper, give the effect of cracks.
2. Distressing is the artificial aging of paper with organic products such as coffee, tea or milk. The ruler and scissors loosen the structure of the edges of the paper so that they look shabby from time to time. In stationery stores you can find special distressed inks. After uniform application to a sheet of paper and complete drying, traces of uneven drying, scuffs and burnout remain.
3. Embossing or embossing on paper. It is obtained using stencils or stamps. Food foil, glitter powder, etc. are also suitable. The embossing method creates convex initial words that are outlined in golden or silver paint. Against the background of aged paper, all this looks very impressive and unusual.
4. Journaling. This method helps to recreate the text typed on an old pre-war typewriter. Journaling is used to describe the events displayed in the photographs. It looks much more appropriate than the usual handwriting.

What improvised materials are used for aging paper

Regular black tea
Take a sheet of white A4 office paper. Brew 5 to 10 tablespoons of regular unflavoured black tea in a mug (the older you want the end result to look, the more teaspoons you add).

After 10 minutes, strain the tea leaves through a strainer into a bowl. Hold the leaf in the tea leaves for 5 minutes. Take out the sheet, put it on the table and dry it with a hair dryer.

When the moisture has evaporated, go over the sheet with an iron through a piece of cotton fabric. Then make a few drops on top in a chaotic manner. To give the "soot effect" hold the finished sheet over a hot burner.

Natural ground coffee:

• remember the paper well with your hands
• brew 5 tablespoons of ground coffee in a glass of boiling water
• pour the tea leaves into a tub or bowl
• hold the sheet there for 5 minutes
• remove and dry with an iron or hair dryer

Milk
Pour half a glass of milk of the highest % fat content. Finish the edges of an A4 sheet with sandpaper and nail scissors. Using a brush, apply milk all over the sheet. Take a hot iron and with quick movements “stamp” the surface of the paper with it.

It's easy to make paper old. However, do not overdo it, because over time the sheets will fade on their own. Excessive aging can lead to the fact that a family album, albeit very stylish and colorful, will have to be moved to a modern, but more reliable one.

Video: how to quickly age paper

The effect of aging paper (distressing) is one of the brightest and most stylish effects used in scrapbooking, scrapbooking and many other types of arts and crafts and creativity.

The purpose of artificial aging of paper is to obtain a characteristic color and texture, sometimes to enhance the effect, the edges of the paper are deliberately additionally torn, frayed or burned.

There are three ways to obtain aged paper: wait until the sheet ages naturally, buy ready-made sheets of old or aged paper, or make such paper at home. In this article, we will tell you how to artificially age paper (with tea or coffee).

How to age paper with coffee?

First of all, prepare the paper you plan to age. If you want the text to be printed on paper, print it out in advance - it is not always possible to print the text on an already aged sheet (printer ink does not stick well to aged paper). In addition to paper, we need coffee (instant or a mixture of instant and ground), paper towels, a sponge (or soft brush) and hot water.

Dissolve two to three tablespoons of coffee powder in half a glass of boiling water. Stir thoroughly and cool the liquid. Put the paper in a container (a baking sheet with a rim will do) and fill it with a solution. Spread the coffee over the surface of the paper with a brush or sponge. If desired, you can sprinkle paper with dry coffee granules and leave them for a short time (this will create the effect of colorful spots, uneven coloring of the sheet). Leave the paper in the water for 5-15 minutes (depending on the weight of the paper), and then remove excess moisture with a paper towel. After that, dry the paper in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for several minutes.

How to age paper with tea?

To age paper with tea, we will need several bags of black tea, hot water, a sponge (or paper towel) and, of course, the paper itself, which we will age.

Tea should first be brewed in boiling water (at a concentration of about 3-4 bags per 0.5 l of water - the stronger the tea is brewed, the richer the color on paper) and insist for one hour. Then we take out the bags from the cooled infusion and begin to apply tea on paper with their help. Tea can be applied in spots, stripes, in some places you can rub the leaf with a bag (this will enhance the effect of wear). When the paper is completely saturated with tea, remove excess liquid with a paper towel (or sponge). After that, the paper should be dried in a preheated oven (a few minutes at 180-200°C are enough).

How to age the edges of the paper?

Naturally aged paper often has jagged edges. To recreate this effect artificially, you can pat them with your hands, rub them with sandpaper or a hard sponge, tear them in several places or singe them over the fire. However, in this case, a measure should be observed so that the edges look worn, but neat.

To enhance the effect of paper aging (regardless of the method of aging), you can crumple the sheet into a ball before painting, and then straighten it. If rice (or other cereals), leaves, pieces of grass or other small objects of this kind are added to the solution during staining, an interesting uneven pattern forms on the sheet. The paper can also be rubbed with a wax candle or dripped with wax (paraffin) on its surface in several places.