How to Make Coffee Stained Tags

This is a tutorial on how to coffee stain shipping 
tags to give them that beautiful vintage look. 

You will need:

Instant Coffee
Warm Water
Baking Pan
Shipping Tags (or any other paper product you desire)
Vanilla Extract (optional) 

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 225F.

STEP 2: Get your shipping tags ready. If you are going to be using them as price tags or need for them to be hung, string them first so that the thread looks vintage, too. This was not necessary for what I was making.

STEP 3: Make a concentrated batch of instant coffee in the baking pan. I used about 4 cups of water and 6 tablespoons of instant coffee, but you can adjust this mixture to be as dark or as light as you want it. I also use a few drops of vanilla extract which makes them smell so amazingly delicious. Make sure your tags are fully submerged and let them soak for about 5 minutes.

STEP 4: Take your tags out of the coffee, drain the coffee out of them (run two fingers down the strings, if applicable) and place them on a cookie sheet. They will darken as they dry.

STEP 5: Bake for 3-5 minutes. Watch them closely; take them out as soon as the edges start to darken. You can leave the oven a bit open to peek through if you prefer. Be careful not to burn them.

 

STEP 6: Lay them out to dry on a flat surface. Once dry, place them under a heavy book to flatten them. Let them flatten over night.

That's it, it's that simple... enjoy your beautiful tags!

I used this technique to make the Save-The-Dates for my wedding. The tutorial for those is soon to follow.