tea dyed tags tutorial

today I'm going to share with you my tried and tested method for tea-dying tags. Over the years I have tried lots of different ways to tea and coffee dye paper and fabrics, with varying results...

but this is my foolproof method - it always works!!

I use the basic shipping tags available in most stationary stores. They come in several different sizes, I have two here

toss your teabags into a container - I use a largeish tupperware container and 5-6 teabags. Don't scrimp on the teabags - an extra bag or two is cheaper than a ruined batch of tags!

pour a full kettle of boiled water over the bags (sorry, I'm not very exact!)

let them steep for a couple of minutes

mine looked like this

now your tea soak is ready!

drop your tags in one at a time, use the next tag to submerge the previous one so you don't burn yourself!

You can get quite a few in a large container like this, but don't overdo it, you don't want them all sticking in a big clump

leave them to soak for around 10-15 minutes, remember, they are a paper product, so rescue them before they go too soggy. You will be able to see they have absorbed the tea color

now, lay them on baking trays. You may need to use tongs if the water is still really hot, but handle them gently. You can see in the photo markings where the tags have stuck together, don't worry about that, it makes them look even more authentic once they are baked

bake the tags at 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes. Check them every couple minutes and take them out when they are dry and the color you like. It may be useful to set a timer if you're a multi-tasker like me, as you can see this batch came out quite dark!

you will notice all the little brown hole taggy things came off in the teabag soak. You can dry them and stick them back on, but I like this look better anyway

the finished product, lots of yummy vintagey tea-dyed tags

There are tons of different ways you can use your tags, here are a few I use them for:

bundled together and tied up with vintage lace...

for tagging items for sale...

make them into themed tags...

further distress the tags with distressing ink

(most products will be listed in my etsy store soon)

here's a last look at the ....

before

and after

I have a favorite way of using my tea-dyed tags, but I'll put that in a future post.

Now, if you use my tutorial to make some vintage tags I'd sure appreciate it if you linked back to my blog:-)

I'm linking this up to:

Look what I whipped up Monday at The Girl Creative

Metamorphasis Monday at Between naps on the porch

Made by you Monday at Skip to my Lou

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tutorial Tuesdays at Hope Studios

Lucky Linky Tuesday at Lucky Star Lane

Do It Yourself Day at A Soft Place to Land

Toot your Horn Tuesday at A Silly Little Sparrow

Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Craft Edition

Three or More Tuesdays at The Gypsy's Corner

Whatever goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Happy tea-dying and happy days!

Tracey