tea stained gift tags.

i'm a little obsessed with antiquing paper. i've done it for ornaments, framed art, a cowboy wanted poster,

 and now gift tags for christmas.

i love it because it's easy, cheap, and has such a stunning effect.

in the past i've always used coffee, but i'm not a coffee drinker. i'm a tea girl. i was always under the impression that  tea wouldn't work as well - not the case.

first, i typed up the label in word, changing up fonts and text size for fun. i printed them on card stock and punched them out with my mom's "stampin' up" gift tag punch. 

then i laid them out on my super gross cookie sheet (we switched to stoneware cookie sheets awhile ago, so i pretty much only use this for staining paper. incase you were worried i actually cooked on that greasy thing.)

i boiled about 3 cups of water with a tea bag (the darkest tea i had was a chai. something like sleepytime might not work as well.) for about 15 minutes to get it concentrated. i attempted the same method i used when antiquing with coffee (pouring it all over the paper on the cookie sheet), but the stain was so dark i couldn't read the tag.

i tried to water down the tea, thinking i had boiled it to long, but it still came out too dark.  3rd time's a charm - i dipped the tags in the tea and laid them out on the cookie sheet. perfecto.

you know they're done when the tags start to pull away from the cookie sheet. click here for a visual.

sorry this is a little blurry.

i absolutely love adding personal touches to homemade gifts! i also contemplated gluing the paper to fabric after i stained it to add a layer of texture, but didn't have any fabric on hand that looked right. these would also look neat with torn edges! the possibilities are endless!

love and personalized presents,
amber.

cowboy WANTED sign

my husband's love for football always means increased creative time for me. we have a history of chilling out in front of the TV - him engrossed in the game and telling me random facts about players while i get my craft on.

this week i had a rootin' tootin' fun time planning the decor for my husband's cousin's new cowboy bedroom! first project down - 

cowboy wanted sign

• cardstock
• coffee
• oven
• cookie sheet
• printer
• computer

i came across this idea on bellezaeluce.com, but she didn't have a tutorial. stink. i know very little about how to do things like this. i got my game face on and pretended like i knew what i was doing. google has the answers to everything, right? right.

• i downloaded this free font and this free font {the serial publication one} and used it with Playbill {already in word}

• i called up benjamin and had him tell me what he wanted his nickname and his crime to be! he had fun brainstorming his elaborate heist, but for space's sake, i had to narrow it down to bank robber and train hijacker.

• if you want to add the lines {i use word 2010} go to "insert", then "shapes", select "line". once you have it lined up where you want, double click it. a new group of options will pop up at the top. select the down arrow on "shape outline" and then the arrow for "weight" to select the thickness of each line.

• i originally had a sweet-faced picture of him from easter, but really now, what bad guy wants his smiling face on a wanted poster plastered all over town? not this one. he rounded up his cowboy gear and gave me quite the glare as i stared down the barrel of his gun. i'm super grateful he didn't pull the trigger.

• following the same plan as i did for my Christmas ornaments, i printed this in black ink, tore the edges, placed it on a cookie sheet, poured about 1/4-1/2 cup coffee over it, and stuck it in a 200 degree oven.

• it typically takes 15-20 minutes. you'll know it's done when the edges are peeling off the cookie sheet.

we're nailing it up on the wall as part of his cowboy decor. from the sound of it, i think he's pretty pumped to show his friends and my husband has declared it to be his favorite of all my projects. i love boys.

love and outlaws,
amber.