This page is about the art of creating "Tea Prinkled" paper. It's a way of turning ordinary white paper into an interesting paper to use in a crafty project. It looks old and interesting, instead of just-from-the-shop. It was named that by my daughter, and the name stuck. We have tried coffee prinkling (very nice), red wine prinkling (ooh, messy and smelly) and even oil prinkling (nah, no luck) but Tea Prinkling gives us great results. Above is my interesting sample. Pretty, isn't it? The stamp is by Bella Rosa.
Now, there's nothing to it, obviously. Just dip some paper in tea. But I invested a bit of time into getting the BEST results, and here are my findings.
Step 1
Make a really nice pot of tea, using loose tea. Trust me, I'm Scottish, I was brought up on tea. It tastes far better made that way. Drink some of the tea. Enjoy it. Top up the pot with fresh water, and enjoy a second cup.
Step 2
Next day, you will have some cold tea and leaves in the pot. It will be about time to make the next pot, but before you do, there's just time to do some Tea Prinkling. Place a sheet of paper into a tray, and pour tea and tea leaves liberally all over it. There will be bubbles of air under the paper. Get them all out by sweeping across the paper with a Tea Prinkling Smoosher (tm), or your finger.
Step 3
Find an out of the way spot to put the tray overnight. Top of a cupboard might work for you - just don't let anyone bump it, or else you'll have tea prinkled t-shirts to wash!
Step 4
See what the paper looks like next day. Is it all dry yet? Or still floating in tea? Depends on how much tea you used, and your local weather. If it's still floating, pour off some of the excess liquid, and let it sit and get dry (with the leaves still where they fell!). You can speed it up by putting it in the sun or even using a heat tool.
Step 5
When the paper is all good and dry, brush off the tea leaves (into the garden) and admire the gorgeous patterns they have left on the paper. Here's my results :
Step 6
Make that next pot of tea while you admire your paper.
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