How to Antique Paper Without Baking

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Things You'll Need

  • Paper

  • Baking sheet

  • Strong coffee

  • Paintbrush

  • Instant coffee

  • Paper towel

  • Heavy book (optional)

Give paper an antique look using simple household ingredients.

Whether you're creating an authentic-looking treasure map or a decorative poem for framing, antique paper adds character and age to fresh pages. Antique paper looks yellowed, wrinkled and worn. It makes new sheets of paper look ancient. One common method of aging paper is dying the paper with coffee or tea then using the oven to dry it out afterwards. An no-bake method achieves similar results without the use of an oven.

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Step 1

Place the paper for antiquing flat in the baking sheet.

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Step 2

Paint the paper evenly with coffee. It should be saturated in coffee.

Step 3

Sprinkle instant coffee over the paper. For a piece of paper that is 8 1/2 by 11 inches, you'll need about 1 tablespoon of coffee. Sprinkle the crystals randomly over the page.

Step 4

Leave the instant coffee in place for about three minutes. Then dab them up with a paper towel. The instant coffee creates concentrated areas of darkness, which simulate stains and natural aging.

Step 5

Use paper towels to soak up excess liquid on the paper. There shouldn't be any coffee pooled in the baking sheet.

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Step 6

Transfer the baking sheet outside to a sunny location. Allow the paper to air dry under the sun. Alternatively, lay a paper towel on the paper, then place a heavy book on top to prevent the paper from curling in. Place the baking sheet in a dry location indoors and allow the paper to air dry.

Tip

You can use strong brewed tea instead of coffee.

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