Teabagging Memories

 Get your filthy minds out of the sewer…this is a family craft post. YEESH

Sometimes I still find myself in awe of the way Dane and I started out. You guys, I don’t even think Steven Spielberg could have written something better. Nicholas Sparks? Maybe. I like to think of my love story as The Notebook on steroids. You can read the extended version here.

What I’m trying to say is….after 4 months of letter writing you’ve got a lot of memories to catalog. I knew whatever I was going to do–I didn’t want to manipulate the originals in any way.

So after a little bit of brainstorming getting on Pinterest, my creative juices finally had a cup to flow in. I took all of Dane’s letters and made copies. I then boiled an extremely concentrated pot of tea. I took the photocopied letters, put them in a cake pan, and poured  the hot tea all over them. Hint: Don’t wear a white shirt, the tea will splash, and you will get angry.

Let them soak for an hour. During this time, feel free to check the coloring. I wanted my money’s worth on the tea, so I let them get nice and dark.

After an hour, I pulled out all the papers one by one and laid them on my counter to dry. Hint: My counter is white. Tea stains. You do the math. Might I recommend laying them outside on a day that is not windy.

What you get? Antique looking letters. The more smears and color inconsistencies the better.
I then arranged them in an 11 x 13 frame and hung it above my desk. Why? A lot of my professional life includes writing. At the heart of everything, writing is so fundamentally important in many aspects of life. Tying my personal and professional life together in this craft way seemed 100% appropriate without being over the top.

Last Hint: You could use these techniques for other things too–pictures, movie tickets, etc.! Have fun and be creative.