CRAFTS On A Dime
Stain wood without fumes or chemicals By Samantha Stillman
I
am always interested in new, green ways to do things, especially when they can save me money. Stained wood looks so beautiful, but the fumes are awful and full of chemicals. I have tried tea-stained paper before to make it look old so why not try it on wood? You can try various combinations and paint colors, and that is what makes this so fun to experiment with. Even my little helper enjoyed himself. This method is good if you only have a few minutes; you can paint some, leave it and come back and paint more as you work around the house. The end result was more a weathered color; so, if you are trying to make wood look older, I suggest using coffee or tea and adding the black paint. Weathered wood looks great among your fall and winter dĂŠcor. Happy crafting! n
1 Samantha Stillman is a Treasure Valley crafts instructor and freelance writer. She may be reached at craftsonadime10@gmail.com.
Supplies needed: Picture 1 Wood Cup of strong coffee Cup of tea (I used two bags) Paintbrush Cup of water Black acrylic paint
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18 June 2016 | Idaho Family Magazine
Instructions:
Samantha Stillman
1. I divided the wood into four test areas. Area 1 is coffee. Area 2 is tea. Area 3 is coffee with black paint. Area 4 is tea with black paint. 2. I applied 4 layers of just coffee and tea to areas 1 and 2. Paint your wood and leave it a few minutes before you paint another layer. You can see on the right the difference of color in the accompanying photo. The tea and coffee alone produced a more honey, natural color than the wood alone. Picture 2 3. Next, I added 4 drops of black paint to each cup and painted one layer on areas 3 and 4. With each layer I added a bit more black paint to darken it. In the end, I had 5 layers on the right two areas and used 20 drops of black paint in each cup. The key is to let the wood soak it in between layers. Different woods will produce different results. Picture 3
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