How to get an aged, primitive look on your primitive craft items.

There is more then one method that can be used to give your crafts a primitive aged look. One of the most commonly used is the tried & trusted instant coffee and cinnamon mixture. Using this method you can achieve any degree of grunge you are looking for. From just a light aged look to an extremely dirty grunge look. It all depends on the amount of coffee & cinnamon you add to your boiling water. The more you add the darker your stain will be, and you can also sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on and rub it directly on the piece before it goes in the oven. I usually always dry my items in a 250 degree oven or outside in the sun when its warm outside. Just remember to check and turn your crafts periodically, and use either foil or wax paper on your cookie sheets.

Tea is another way to prim up an item. I add 4-8 tea bags to my boiled water. It all depends on the degree of stain you want. Tea will give a lighter stain to cloth then a coffee mixture. I add a bit of cinnamon to this mixture as well. You can also add vanilla or even candle scents to your staining mixture to get different scents for your crafts. If you are making candy canes you can add a peppermint scent to your mixture, or an apple scent to your prim apples.

A great way to age clothes for your prim dolls is by using Tan Rite Dye. This will give your fabric an aged look without any scents, or leaving them stiff and dried out like the coffee or tea stains.

Walnut Crystals which can be found on the internet, is mixed with warm water and is very versatile. You can achieve any hue of brown you desire depending on the concentration of crystals that you use.

Brown shoe polish is another great way to give an aged look to your painted and sanded crafts. This works really great on items that have been painted black. I prefer this to the coffee stain when I'm working with items I have painted black and then sanded. I just take a bit and rub in a circular motion. You can go back with a clean cloth and take some of it back off if you want. This I let air dry. I don't put this in the oven to dry.

Paper crafts can be aged with these solutions also. I use the coffee mixture for my hang tags & paper banners. Just keep a close eye on the paper as it only takes a couple minutes to dry in the oven.

As you can see there are many methods that can be used on your crafts to achieve a aged look. I don't use one exclusively, but use what method I find works best for whatever project I'm working on, and sometimes I use more then one method for a creation.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Prim Blessings,

Kim