Friday, March 28

NATURAL DYE: Coffee Stained Stationary


Naturals dyes are something we have been wanting to experiment with for a long time.  There are so many different dying techniques and options, we can't wait to try them all.  Looking around our homes, we where amazed at how many foods, drinks, and herbs you can use to make natural dyes with.  It's incredible!

Wanting to pretty much now dye everything we own, we are starting a new series called NATURAL DYES.  Ever looked at coffee and thought "Hey, I can dye paper with that!".  Well you can.  Writing handwritten letters is something I want to do more of this year, so making a coffee stained stationary set was the perfect way to start off the series and test my dye skills.  Making a large stack of paper took no time at all.  I woke up the next morning, had a cup of coffee, and started writing a bunch of friends and family letters on my beautiful new stationary.  This project definitely gave me the confidence to dive head first into all the natural dye designs I want to accomplish.

Look below and find steps to make your own coffee stained stationary.





Supplies:
Brewed Coffee (full pot)
Baking Dish
Paper
Twine (optional)
Pins (optional)
Clothe Pins (optional)
parchment paper (optional)

Pour the cooled brewed coffee into a baking dish.  I used a 9x9 dish, which worked perfectly since the paper was cut to 5.5x8.5.  Next take one sheet of paper at a time and dip them into the coffee for a couple seconds.  Figure out how high you want the stain to be and make your first dip the deepest.  Gently shake off the access water and dry*.  Once dry, repeat at different heights for a layered look.  When all your stationary is completely dry, set under a couple large books for 24 hours to flatten.

*To Dry:  I found that hang drying the sheets of paper work best.  In a doorway, string twine across and pin on each side.  Created multiple lines to dry a bunch of paper at once.  Put parchment paper under the lines to catch coffee drip runoff.  Using clothe pins, hang the recently dipped sheets of paper on the line to dry.  


{Claire}

3 comments:

  1. This is great. Plus it would make nice gifts.

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    Replies
    1. Cheryl, great tip! Also, we think it would be a perfect last minute gift.

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  2. sooo beautiful! i'd been seeing this a lot a while back and always thought it overly complicated until now. wonderful job, so dainty and simple beauty.

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