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.

birthday prep - paper pinwheels.

my friend and i were talking the other day and she said there are 2 types of families in the world - the type that doesn't make a big deal out of birthdays and the type that does. 

i do believe we are the type that does. 

since we've been married we have never had a birthday, we've had a birthweek. we love to get together with family, have date days, eat good food, and celebrate. now we are crazy excited to do this for a baby. we've never decorated or thrown ourselves a party before, but we're sure as heck gonna do it for our kids. so, here begins her birthday week {actually, a few days early}. welcome to the birthday factory!

creative idea # 9: paper pinwheels
idea sparked by: there are tons of tutorials online, but i haven't found one that i've read and immediately understood how to make these things. {maybe i'm just reading the wrong ones...} this is my attempt to make a tutorial that at least i would understand :-) 

tools:

• 2 sheets of paper {i used computer paper. obviously the size you choose will effect the size of the pinwheel. i've also made mini ones out of book pages before}
• tape {both regular and double sided}
• string, yarn, or something else to tie with
• scissors
• hot glue gun {optional}
• circle punch in different color {optional}

directions:

• lay  papers end to end and tape together

• fold accordion style, end to end. {i'm confessing to you now that i am a recovering perfectionist. a few years ago i would have meticulously measured one inch increments along the length of the papers, folded them perfectly even, and, had i messed up, would have thrown it away and started all over. i cannot tell you how great it is to not be like that anymore. like i said though, i'm still recovering. instead of measuring perfectly, i fold the paper slightly smaller than the previous fold because when you press it down, it will become the same width as the last fold. see pic below}

 

• a few years ago i would have also busted out my ruler and measured the exact middle of my accordian fold so i would know where precisely to put my string. i clearly needed a life. this time around, i got smart and folded it all in half so i would know where the middle was.

• tie string in fold

• use double stick tape to stick the sides together

 

• if you want to hide the yarn, or simply help coordinated these further with your theme, hot glue a circle to the middle.

tada! crazy easy.

stay tuned for more birthday fun...

love and confetti, 

amber

antiquing paper.

this is one of my new favorite things. like always, i came across it on pinterest. i was searching for a way to make old and worn ornaments for our church's Journey to Judea Christmas event and this was so cheap, easy, and amazing that i couldn't pass it up.

creative idea #4: antique Paper {in this case, for ornaments}
idea sparked by: AGlimpseInsideBlog


Materials:

• paper {can be from a book or something you print off yourself. If printing, do this before you start. I chose card stock for a more sturdy ornament Also, i tried printing in brown the first time i did this, only to have it fade more than i was wanting. it looked great for some things, but for this, i preferred to print in black (which didn't fade). Play around with it!}
• cookie sheet
• coffee
• oven mit

Directions:

• preheat oven to 200
• lay your paper on the cookie sheet {you can do straight edges, or tear them.}

• pour just enough coffee to cover the paper. {for this mini sized cookie sheet and one piece of paper, i used less than a 1/4 cup}

{sorry, i haven't perfected my taking-pictures-in-a-dark-oven skills...}

• set the timer for 20 min. it prob wont be done that quick, but use it as a gauge for how much longer you should leave it in for. You'll know it's done when the edges start to peel off the cookie sheet. if it didn't peel off very high, take a butter knife and gently pop off the rest of the edges.

• get creative with how you use these! You can frame them, glue string to the back for an ornament, or as the blogger at AGlimpseInside did, you can make multiple, roll them up, tie them with hemp, and put them in a vase :-)

love and good uses for coffee,
amber.