How can I make a journal old looking?

Question

It must look like it is from the crusades (1095-1099) and still be legible. Also if anyone knows how can i leather bind parchment paper?

Answer 1

Here's a couple methods we've used at the theater I work at for aging props:

- Go to an art/craft store and get a journal that's bound in leather or in linen/other porous earth-tone material. Boil water in a large pot with 10 or so teabags until the tea is boiling and very dark. Drop the journal into the water, preferably slightly open so that the pages all get some tea on them. Leave it in there 10-20 minutes (you can take it out occasionally to check how dark it is.) Then take it out and use a hairdryer to dry the pages. Then write in it.

- Hold down the journal really hard, and use a knife or straight razor to roughen the edges of the pages. Don't worry about things getting really roughened-- when you're done, neaten it up by tearing off any hanging or ripped parts of pages.

- Use watercolor paint in a dark brown. Get a large paintbrush very wet, and dip it into the paint, then lightly paint the exteriors of the pages when the journal is closed. Be sure your brush is very wet. For a more extreme effect, get the entire journal wet first-- the paint will permeate more of the page. When all is dry, write in it.

If you want to do the binding yourself, I would suggest getting two pieces of leather cut to a little larger than the paper you're using, punching holes into all of it about every 1/2 inch, then lacing it together either with a natural fiber twine or with a leather thong.

You may want to consider purchasing vellum (which is rather expensive) and cutting it down to the size you want. Books during this period wouldn't have moved into wood/plant product paper and would still be using the harder-to-manufacture vellum.

Answer 2

i don't know about parchment paper, but, when i was in school someone made their project look old by spilling some coffee all over it and baking it for a couple minutes

Answer 3

Well, get a paint brush (a house paint brush should work) and ground coffee. sprinkle the coffee over the pages and use the brush to spread it around and into the pages. Be sure you've written on the pages first.

Hope this helps!