If you love adding a vintage touch to your crafts, this simple faux aged paper technique using just olive oil is perfect! It’s an easy, budget-friendly way to give paper a beautifully worn, translucent look—great for decoupage, journaling, or mixed media projects.
What You’ll Need:
• Pages from an old book (rescued from a resale shop, of course!)
• Olive oil
• Your hands (no fancy tools needed!)
How to Do It:
1. Start with your paper – Tear or cut out the pages you want to use. Older book pages work beautifully since they already have a bit of character.
I like to crumble my page first before adding the oil.
2. Massage in the olive oil – Pour a small amount of olive oil onto the page and gently work it in with your fingers. Massage it into the fibers as if you’re giving the paper a little spa treatment.
3. Crumple and soften – As you work the oil in, crumple the page repeatedly. This helps break down the stiffness, making the paper soft and pliable. Keep massaging and crumpling until it feels almost like fabric.
This is also great for your hands!
I crumble it up several times as I go .
4. Let it dry – Lay the pages flat or drape them over a rack to dry overnight. Once dry, they’ll have a beautiful aged look, a slight translucency, and a soft, worn feel.
Now your faux aged paper is ready to be used! Whether you’re layering it onto a canvas, using it for decoupage, or adding it to a junk journal, this technique gives any project a timeless, vintage charm.
You will love this technique!
Have you tried this before? Let me know how you’d use it in your crafting!
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Olive Oil
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