Aging paper for a fun little project

We have been so busy between getting everything ready for our Pennies Primitives open house this weekend and working on our shower curtain orders (which are really starting to roll in!  Yippee!!!) that I haven't had a chance to blog.   So I was working on a little project for the open house and thought I would share it with you because it was fun!  Unfortunately I didn't thing about blogging it until I had already started so I might be missing a few pics.  Sorry!!  

So lets get started.  I found these two graphics that I really liked.  

This one was the perfect size to fit on a shelf from our Pennies Primitives stock. 







And this one would look good on an apple bucket that my sister in law gave me over the winter.    

So I decided to give aging paper a try.  I got out my tea and a little pot and got started.  I used about 6 tea bags but Im sure 4 would have been enough for such a small project. 

I brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  

I got out my paint brush and painted on the tea 

 I blotted the puddles but left it so it looked blotchy in spots.  Is blotchy a word? Well you know what I mean.  

Then I put in in the oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.  

Ummm, I didn't realize how dirty our oven was until I looked at this picture.  Please don't judge!   

Here's what they looked like when I took them out

I decided to take the french print one step further and distress the edges.  So I cut it out, put it back on the baking sheet and gave the edges a little spray with some water, then gently rolled the edges.  

Then I put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.  

I love the way it came out!

So now to add them to the pieces.  Here's the shelf.  I put a coat of Mod podge on the back, then brushed a coat over the image paying close attention to the edges.   

And here is the finished product!  I like it!  

This apple bucket was plain, like the kind you would buy in Micheal's (sorry, I forgot to take before pics).  I put a coat of Minwax Early American stain on it to age it, then after it dried mod podged on the image.  As you can tell I ripped it a bit putting it on but I think it adds to it?  

I will have both pieces out at the open house on Saturday so if your in the neighborhood stop by!  

Thanks for looking!!

          Donna