How to make scrolls: aging paper at home

Required materials and tools

To age paper at home, you don’t have to use expensive or inaccessible products. Almost certainly everything you need is available in every home. Therefore, before moving on to studying step-by-step master classes, you need to prepare:

plain white paper;
brewing black leaf tea;
small bowl;
a shallow bowl large enough to hold a sheet of paper;
milk of any fat content;
instant coffee or cocoa powder;
Matchbox;
boiling water (water heated to one hundred degrees);
iron.

DIY scroll invitation

Such invitations are extremely relevant; they look original and unusual. Guests will definitely appreciate the handmade scroll work. But in order for these wedding attributes to make the right impression, you should take care of their neat appearance, and the design should correspond to the original idea. To be on the safe side, seek help from specialists who will bring the idea for your invitations to life.

However, creating such products for a wedding is quite within the capabilities of ordinary people who do not have special skills and abilities. Thanks to the step-by-step instructions below, you will be able to make unusual invitations from scrap materials without spending a lot of time on it. This way you will save money and create stylish items for your wedding yourself!

What you will need: materials and tools

It is possible to make a scroll invitation for a wedding in different ways. For the procedure, you need to find available materials, which every housewife probably has at home, so there is no great need to purchase many additional items. You can also get creative and make a wax seal for your wedding scroll, for example. It's simple, but will require the purchase of additional funds. To create a wedding scroll we will need the following materials and tools:

Paper (regular A-4, preferably thicker, like for drawing/author's paper, preferably similar to fabric/kraft paper - brown wrapping paper, thick, sold in office supply or construction stores).
Black pen or printer.
Candle, matches or distress ink (black or gold).
Corrugated night lights.
Silicone imprint (optional, for decoration).
Coffee or tea, spices (cinnamon, vanilla or other aromatic spices).
Sealing wax (preferably a special wax gun with rods).
Imprint (custom or homemade).
Twine, satin ribbon, lace or golden thread.
Brush for applying paint.

Which of this you will need depends on what kind of wedding invitation in the form of a scroll you want to create - “expensive” golden, as close as possible to an antique, decorative, “a la antiquity”, as well as on the degree of its naturalness. Optimally inexpensive set: stationery paper, coffee (or tea), candle, rope for tying the scroll, black pen.

How to age scroll paper

Invitation paper is aged in several ways:

If you don't want to bother with aging, buy kraft packaging paper. It is dense and dark, similar to an ancient one when rolled up.
If you want to make your own aged invitation paper, take an A-4 piece of paper, crumple it, straighten it, and then place it in the tray. Brew strong coffee or tea (about 4 tea bags or 2 tablespoons of loose leaf tea) and pour this liquid over the paper. Leave it there for a few minutes to half an hour until it turns the desired color. You cannot dry paper by placing it under a press, because... During drying, the newspaper on which the colored invitation scroll will lie will absorb the color along with the moisture, and therefore the sheet on this side will be pale. This is only valid for the inside of the scroll.

To ensure that the invitation sheets are not uniform and have many stains, do not forget to crumple them before coloring. You can also place a few instant coffee granules on a still wet sheet.
If you want the wedding scroll paper to be not only colored, but also fragrant, add a little cinnamon, vanilla or other spices to the coloring liquid. It can be fragrant from the very beginning - for this you need to order such sheets at a stationery store.

Burning the edges

Burning the edges of previously painted and dried paper is necessary in order to give the invitations a believably aged look. The feeling of aging of the edges of the scroll is achieved without scorching - with the help of special paint. To make the edges of your invitation appear frayed, choose one of the following methods:

Light a candle and carefully hold the edges of the previously painted invitation to the flame. Quickly trace along the outline of the sheets. You should get a uniform scorched line. Before you start scorching your invitations, try it on a scrap piece of paper first to get an idea of how long to hold it over the fire. If you hold the sheet at the wrong angle to the flame, it may become smoky, which is not desirable.

Light the candle, bring the invitation to the corner and hold it until it lights. Immediately put it out on the candlestick. Process all edges this way. A sheet burned in this way will look very natural. To make a wedding scroll invitation smell smoky, it needs to be painted before scorching.

You can give sheets a scorched look without burning them by coloring them with black distress ink for vintage photographs. You can purchase them at a stationery or photo store. The invitation is torn off at the edges, and then shaded with this paint from the ends.
To make the wedding scroll invitation not old, but expensive, do not tear off the edges, but carefully go over it with relief scissors and shade it with golden distress paint. It will be easy to give a festive look to craft paper processed this way.

Choosing a font and printing the invitation text

Applying text to the invitation in the form of a scroll is an important step. The text is applied to already painted sheets, so as not to scorch the space necessary for printing the finished text. And to show that the scroll was damaged by time, and not on purpose. You can either write the text yourself or print it on a printer. If there will be a lot of wedding invitations in the form of a scroll, then the first option will be too tedious, so it is better to immediately count on the fact that the text will be printed.

If the scroll paper is smooth, then you will need a laser printer; if it is textured, you will need an inkjet printer. Without taking this point into account, the paint may not adhere well and ruin the scrolls.

The overall vintage look of the invitation will not be ruined if you choose the right fonts. Writing letters on scrolls is typical of a period in history when letters were written by hand, so the fonts should imitate calligraphic handwriting. Nowadays, applied fonts of various types are available for download, including those that imitate calligraphy. Not only do they have beautiful writing and support the Cyrillic alphabet, but they also have interletter connecting lines.

Beautiful calligraphic fonts include, for example, Primo, Monika Script. Olietta script BoldItalic font will make your invitation valuable and real, because... uses the Old Russian style (as in Russian chronicles). Download many different fonts at once and choose your handwriting to suit your taste.

Aging paper using welding

You can achieve faster results if you use the following master class on how to make scrolls at home. This process is very interesting and not at all complicated.

It requires preparing a steep tea brew:

Place five tablespoons of tea leaves in a bowl.
Add two hundred milliliters of boiling water, then leave to infuse.
Pour the prepared tea leaves into the prepared container. Place the first sheet of paper there (or rub it with a tea bag).

If desired, you can crumple it a little first. This will give you a more realistic effect. We time it for five minutes. And after the specified time, take out the painted paper. You can dry it naturally or using an iron. If the reader chooses the second method, experts advise placing the sheet on a cloth so as not to stain the ironing board or other surface.

What should I use?

When preparing any celebration, it is very important to think through each stage. One of the most important is the invitation, because it is the business card, indicates the direction and sets the tone of the holiday. A DIY scroll will look creative and fresh against the backdrop of boring ordinary invitations. You can make this option at home, the main thing is to follow the sequence.

To make a scroll you need to prepare everything you need:

paper – preferably watercolor, if not, then any paper will do;
strong brew of tea or coffee;
soaking container;
scissors;
glue;
ribbon;
decor

Old paper effect with coffee

When talking about how to make scrolls at home, experienced needlewomen note that instant coffee is ideal for these purposes. You need to work with it in the same way as we described in the previous paragraph. However, you must first prepare the correct solution.

Making it at home is not difficult. You just need to pour boiling water into a small bowl. Then add ten teaspoons of instant coffee. If this drink is not found at home, you can use cocoa powder. It should be taken in the same proportion as coffee. After this, stir thoroughly until the dry component is completely dissolved and then use it to age the paper.

"Old Scroll" in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

“Ancient Scroll” in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a quest item, an artifact, that the player can receive while completing his main task. In order to discover this scroll and get its hands on it, the player should visit the “Dwemer Ruins”. First you need to look into the College of Winterhold. Here you need to find a character named Farald. Of course, no one will let a player through easily like that. This character needs to demonstrate a cry or acquire some spell and use it. After this, when the main character is allowed through, you need to go into the library and go up to the 2nd floor. Here you will need to find Urag gro-Shuba, who after the conversation will give out two books, from which you will be able to find out the location of the scroll. They must be read and approached by Septimius Segonius. When the player discovers him, he will tell you that the “Ancient Scroll” is located inside the “Dwemer Ruins”, namely in the “Black Reach”. Having made his way through Alftand, the player finds himself in a huge cave, the Black Reach. In order to find the scroll, just follow the marker to the Mzark tower. There is a Dwemer observatory, where the hidden “Ancient Scroll” lies in the chest. Later, after the player discovers this artifact, he will need to climb to the “Throat of the World”, where in a deliberately designated place he will be able to read this scroll and receive special knowledge called "Dragon Slayer's Cry." The artifact itself cannot be read or thrown away after its acquisition, but, fortunately, it will be allowed to be sold to the librarian Urag gro-Shub.

We age paper with milk

If you want to create not just a yellow-red gift scroll, but one that is as similar as possible to the real one, you should use the method described below.

It requires preparing milk and a cotton pad or regular cotton wool. After that, take a sheet of paper and place it in front of you. We wet the disk in milk and begin to slap it on the snow-white surface. Moreover, it is important to do this, if possible, unevenly. Having completed the described manipulations, leave the paper to dry.

However, the work doesn't end there. When the future scroll has dried thoroughly, cover it with a thin cotton cloth and iron it with an iron. You can also hold the leaf over the flame if you wish. But it is important to prevent fire. Our task is to lightly scorch and smoke the paper.

Some difficulties may arise during distribution.

The scrolls will not fit into a regular envelope. You can, of course, put them in a box and send them by post as a parcel post, but all the solemnity is lost, and the invitee will have to go and receive the parcel post in person.

The following options are preferable:

If it is not possible to transfer the scrolls using one of these methods, there is only one option left - sending the text by email.

Invitations are usually sent out at least a couple of weeks before the celebration.

How to give greater historical authenticity?

So, we figured out how to create the effect of old paper. However, if desired, it can be strengthened a little. And then we will tell you how.

Regardless of which method the reader used earlier, we prepare a box of matches and some instant coffee. First of all, burn the edges of the leaf. The main thing is to also prevent fire, otherwise all the work will go down the drain. Having achieved the desired result, grind the coffee granules in several places, thus making the color uneven.

When you are completely satisfied with the result, you need to carefully roll the prepared paper into a roll. Next, prepare a red candle, twine or twine, a coin or signet ring, if available. We need to secure the roll so that it does not unroll prematurely. Therefore, first we tie it with twine. Then we light a candle and drip wax onto the scroll. We wait a few seconds so that the mass has time to set, and we make an imprint on it. The main thing is not to forget to write a congratulation or invitation on your scroll. It is advisable to do this in calligraphic handwriting.

We hope that our master class on how to make a paper scroll with your own hands will help you create the most realistic parchment that will become an original and, undoubtedly, memorable gift for any occasion. It should also be noted that recently artificially aged paper has been used to create unusual wedding invitations. Perhaps this information will also be useful to the reader.

Manufacturing process

At first glance, it may seem that making a scroll with your own hands from paper is difficult, but this is not at all the case. The process is exciting and creative, you can involve children, they will be interested. Let's look at what to do and how to do it in order:

The first thing to do is brew strong tea or make coffee, let it cool a little, the liquid should not be too hot, it is better to let it be a little warm.

To give the paper an antique effect, you need to crumple it, then smooth it out well with your hands.
Cut the paper to the required size and lower it into a container for soaking, pour the tea leaves solution on top and leave for 10-15 minutes.
After the time has passed, you need to dry the sheet on newspapers, a towel or a hairdryer, this will be the fastest way.
You need to process the edges - tear them off or burn them. In the second option, you should act quickly and carefully - the paper should not catch fire, otherwise all your efforts will be in vain.

Now you can start designing your invitation or congratulations. The text can be written with a pencil or paints, dipping it into water each time so that the inscription blurs a little - this will add a special charm. You can print a pre-selected verse on paper and carefully glue it. Very little glue is needed, after which you need to put the scroll under the press so that it does not deform.
If desired, we add various decorative elements - ribbons, seals or stamps.
You can tie a scroll using twine and a seal made of polymer clay, you can also attach it to beautiful sticks and roll it on both sides. Any of these options will look original.