Staining and Aging Techniques

Below is a great article explaining how to age dolls, however the same techniques can be used on many other projects that you would like to age. http://www.creativetimesmagazine.com/tutorial/Staining+and+Aging+Primitive+Dolls

Creating and collecting primitive items has been a growing trend for several years now. Many people enjoy that aged appearance. There is no right way or wrong way to produce a prim item. It’s really a matter of preference. Some people prefer for items to look like they were nicely tucked away in Grandma’s attic chest with mild age spots here and there while others like the extremely tattered appearance of rugged play. Either can be achieved depending on various antiquing methods.

Coffee and tea staining are the most popular aging ingredients while walnut ink staining is growing in popularity. Occasionally, watered down brown or black tones of paint are used in place of stains.

Rubs add more antique charm to your items. Cinnamon is the most popular rub. However, tea or coffee grounds can be used for slightly different results. It might be fun to mix all of the rubs to see the primitive affect it will have.