How do you make paper look old and burnt?

Question

You know how sometimes for projects people make the paper look old and burnt? all brown and burnt.. how do you do that? thanks.

Answer 1

You can dye the paper with tea.  To make it look burnt around the edges, you can actually burn the edges very carefully.

You can also tear the edges and color with a black or brown pen.

To dye the paper, brew strong tea and submerge the paper.  When it is a color you like, let it dry flat.  You can wrinkle the paper before dying and then iron when dry.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 2

Well crumble it a bunch of times and with a lighter CAREFULLY burn the edges.

Answer 3

You can dip the paper in a pot with cooled tea and then burn the edges(very carefully) with a lighter.

Answer 4

FIRST you burn the edges up a bit with a lighter or match. It's pretty easy just make sure you[or someone, like a parent] keeps an eye on it, you don't want to burn more than what you wanted. Otherwise, you have to start again.

After that's done, THEN you crinkle the paper.

Good luck on the project!

Answer 5

Make some tea, drink the tea and use the tea bag to blot on your paper, this gives an uneven aged look, as if the paper had been around and handled for some time. I also sprinkle some of the tea just for character.  

Answer 6

1. Make a really strong cup of coffee. Use about four times as much instant coffee powder as you would to drink.

Get a container that is a little bigger than the piece of paper you are using, like a 9x13" (22 cm x 33 cm) baking pan. It can be shallow. Paper is thin, so you don't need a very deep pool.

Pour about 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) of coffee into the bottom of the container.

Put your piece of paper into the liquid. Let it float on top, so that the coffee seeps through the back.

Using a spoon, spoon the coffee over the paper until it has a thin covering. Leave it for about a minute so that it absorbs the tannins.

Carefully, so as not to rip the damp paper, transfer it to another tray that has no coffee in it. You may want to hold it up for a second to let any excess coffee drain away.

Using the your finger-nail or a spoon, tear little holes in the paper. Wad up the paper you remove and drop it in little lumps across the surface of the paper. When baked, these will merge back into the surface, creating lumps. These lumps make it look and feel more like parchment, the writing material used in the medieval ages.

Make sure there is no pools of liquid on the paper. Bake in an oven at 150 degrees until the paper has dried.

Take it out and let it cool. You know have a sheet of medieval parchment!

2. Prepare a normal pot of tea, saving the tea bag.

Lay your paper onto a flat surface.

Smear your teabag onto the piece of paper. This will give it the desired yellow look.

Keep your cup of tea handy, in case the teabag dries out, so that you can dip it again or if you want to drink some tea.

Let your paper sit on a flat surface to dry, or dry your paper with your hair dryer.

3. Hold the paper between 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) and 1 inch (2.5 cm) above a candle flame and move it back and forth. This will create the darkened look of paper that's been around for a very long time and with a little practice you'll be able to give the paper the look of having been a little damaged by time and circumstance.

Burn the edges with a lighter or a candle but make sure it doesn't catch fire. Wetting the edges before burning them offers a more ripped look.

(You may want to do this in or by the sink, just incase it catches on fire.)

4. Find a piece of uncolored paper and the piece of paper you wish to look old.

Place the uncolored paper under the other piece of paper and put both on the electric stove.

Turn the heat to medium.

Take a spoon, fork, or stick and press on the desired spots.

*Please choose for best answer!