Pirate Treasure Map/ Tea Stained Paper

This morning as I was working on fixing up my blog, I heard a sloshing noise. I look and find out that my youngest daughter has found my tea and thought it was very fun to put her hand in there and slosh it around. (Thank God it wasn't hot). Strangely enough, this brought on the inspiration for my post today. A Tea Stained Treasure Map. My oldest daughter, is obessesed with pirates. Ever since introducing her to Peter Pan (in which she cheers for Captain Hook) and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, she is hooked....no pun intended. :) For Christmas, Santa brought her a pirate puzzle, pirate stickers and a pirate play set (complete with hat and hook). Such sayings as "Ahoy!" "Yo Ho Ho!" and my favorite that we hear at prayer time, "Oh coconuts!" are part of her everyday language. I have no idea where I first learned to do tea staining, (probably my mother) but my sister and I did it all the time when growing up. I know we used it for "vintage" invitations, letters and I'm sure there was a treasure map in there somewhere.

What you will need:
A plain white piece of paper
Brewed (and cooled) black tea
A Paintbrush
A clean surface to work on (preferably one that's easy to clean too)
A lighter
Optional:
Pencil
Markers

I taped down some parchment paper for my work surface.

1. Start out by crumpling up your piece of paper in a ball. This will help make the tea staining more uneven, so that it looks genuinely vintage.

Crumple as shown...lol

2. Then dip your paintbrush in the tea and start blotting all over. Its ok if the tea pools in some areas. This will make the effect better looking and don't worry, it will dry! Cover the entire paper making sure to get the edges.

3. Let dry completely.

4. If you so desire, burn the edges of the paper for a more worn look. I suggest doing this outside. Otherwise it will smell like fire in your house.

Perfect!

Doesn't it look awesome?

5. Then your vintage paper is finished, use it for anything! Letter's to a friend, a love note for your honey... I drew a treasure map on mine.

I'm not kidding, I've had these for awhile. And I use them ALL the time.

Voila! A treasure map!

When I presented it to her majesty, she wasn't exactly sure what it was yet.

What? A Treasure map?

Ah ha!

Such a pretty girl

Hmmm. X marks the spot....

20 paces through Blindman's Bluff....

Arrgh! Mateys! Lets go get some treasure!