Weathered Treasure Maps

These were so much fun and surprisingly easy to make.

Last year was a bit crazy for my family.  When Christmas came around, I wanted to do something special.  So, I decided to turn one of my daughter’s presents into a treasure hunt.  I’m not usually someone who likes to go halfway, so that meant making the treasure maps look as authentic as possible.  But, how do you do that?

I’d heard about giving paper an aged look with tea or coffee.  Most of the online sources recommended dabbing a wet tea bag or coffee soaked napkin on the paper and letting the paper air dry.  Two problems with this:

1.   While the papers did look beautiful, they were not weathered like a treasure map.  Treasure maps need to look like they’ve been through some rough and tumble troubles.
2.   These were for a present and I didn’t have time to let them air dry.  They needed to dry quickly in the short time between when I woke up and my daughter would be waking, so they could be stored out of sight.

I called up a friend and she recommended rubbing wet coffee grounds for that weathered look.  It worked and I liked it.  So, if you’re wanting to make weathered treasure maps, here’s what you need to do:

Weathered Treasure Maps

Supplies:

1.  Paper.  If drawing/printing anything on it, do that first.  Ink doesn’t go on as easily after the weathering process
2. Used, wet coffee grounds
3.  Baking sheet
4. Scissors (optional)
5. Turmeric powder (optional)
6. Small paint brush (optional)

Directions:

If you want, crumple the paper for added texture and cut or tear some of the sides for a more weathered look.  Tearing looks more authentic.

With your used, wet coffee grounds, take a small handful and gently rub them over and around the paper until it is at the desired look.  You’re not trying to get the paper super wet as that could tear it, but you do need some moisture for the color to smooth onto the paper.

Take the turmeric, if using, and sprinkle around the outer edges of the paper.

Here’s what the paper will look like:

If you have time, you can let the paper air dry for 2-3 hours, depending on how wet the paper is.  If you’re in a rush, like I was, you can dry the paper in the oven.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.  Set the pan in the oven for 5-15 minutes, again depending on how wet the paper is.  I recommend checking every 5 minutes.

Take out of the oven and wait a few minutes to allow them to cool enough to touch.  If using the brush, you can brush the loose coffee grounds and turmeric powder off.  This method works well and is gentle enough to not tear the paper.  However, toward the end (I made more than a few maps) I was just using my hand to wipe the loose grounds and powder off and that worked just as well.

Ta-da!

You can really get some different looks depending on how much you rub the coffee into the paper or how much turmeric you use.  Here are two examples to show how drastically different they can be: