No, not that kind of “tea party.”  I’ve been reading about tea staining paper for ages now, it’s almost embarrassing for me to admit to you that until this weekend I’d never tea dyed/stained paper before.  When I used to work at a craft store I’d tell people all about tea staining and how super easy it was (all of it true, just unverified).  Well, quite frankly I can now tell you that there couldn’t be an easier paper craft out there.

Brew super-strong tea, let it cool, stick your paper in it for a few hours, pull paper out, let it dry, done.  Antique-looking paper that smells nicely of tea.  I used rose tea for this project and now these faux-military telegrams smell like roses.  I’m not sure that would’ve happened in the 19th century but what can you do– in my mind rose is a 19th century scent.

I did these sheets for a very special thank you note to the guys in the 14th TN CMF who helped me a lot with my thesis last spring and have continued to be awfully kind to me.