Staining and Soaking

• Age plain white paper to look yellowed and decades old by staining or soaking the paper in tea or coffee. Use blank paper or print a message on the paper, crumble it into a ball, unfold and place in a baking sheet. Pour hot tea or coffee into the shallow pan and sprinkle coffee grounds or instant coffee over the paper. Allow the coffee grounds or instant coffee granules to set on the paper for five to 10 minutes, then blot up the liquid with a towel you don't mind staining. Allow the paper to dry in the baking sheet or dry it in the oven for about five minutes on the lowest setting; remove the paper when the edges begin curling. Use the sepia-tinted paper to make a family tree diagram or frame a poem printed on the antiqued paper.
  
  

Burning

• Give paper a western-flare by burning the edges. Hold a lighter's flame to the paper's edge, allowing the flame to burn an uneven and dark edge around the paper. Hold the paper flat with the flame underneath to create a few decorative holes in the paper. Hold the flame 2 to 3 inches under the paper to create brown, age spots on the paper. Practice caution when aging paper using the burning method; work over a metal sink or outdoors, so you do not damage any surfaces or items if the paper burns too quickly. Because the flame is sometimes unpredictable and hard to control, you may need to retry this process several times to achieve the look you desire. Combine this paper antiquing method with the staining technique to create crafty "Wanted" posters for western-themed parties.
  
  

Fading

• Age paper using various fading techniques, depending on the exact effect you need for your crafting project. Antique colored paper easily by laying it in a sunny windowsill for a couple of days to let the sun do your work. Spray or dab diluted bleach over colored or patterned paper, such as scrapbook paper, to produce a faded and spotty effect. Make the center of the paper look faded by darkening the paper's edges with ink or chalk. Dab ink or dark-colored artist's chalk onto a sponge or cloth and wipe along the paper's edge; use an extra sheet of paper underneath, to protect furniture from ink stains. Fade the edges of paper by rubbing with sandpaper to produce the opposite effect as the ink or chalk. Use this paper antiquing method to enhance scrapbook pages.
  
  

Tearing

• Give plain or colored paper a distressed and aged look by tearing, instead of cutting to produce rough edges. Tear by hand or guide your tears with a straight edged ruler or a decorative edging stencil. Simply lay the paper under the stencil and tear the paper upwards as you hold the stencil down. Scrapbook paper may produce better effects than plain white or colored, construction paper, as scrapbook paper usually has a white center that shows when you tear the paper. Employ the tearing method for card-making, to produce cards that truly appear handmade.