 | Take a piece of nice white paper and rip off all
the edges (don't cut them with scissors, rip them!) If you rip the paper a bit more
than you meant to, it's not the end of the world... it just makes the parchment look
older.
|
| Crumple the paper up as tightly as you can into
a ball.
|
| Flatten the paper out again and put onto a plate
or cookie sheet. (if you haven't told the kids what you're doing, they'll start
thinking you're really weird right about now).
|
| Pour coffee or tea over the paper. Swoosh
around with your hands to make sure it covers everything.
|
| If you're doing this with a large group of
smaller kids, you may want to get it to this point and set them aside for a couple minutes
(get the children arranged at the table for drawing their maps). Then pull out some
finished, dried sheets that you premade. It keeps the kids from having to sit
through the "waiting" parts of the project.
|
| Let it sit for about 5 minutes (if you're doing
it with a group of impatient crafters, you don't have to let it sit so long... 2 minutes is enough to give it
some colour)
|
| Pour the coffee off into the sink.
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| Blowdry with a hand held blowdryer on high for
about 5 minutes (leave it sitting on the plate while blowdrying or it will tear to
pieces). When it's pretty dry (and starts to lift a bit) switch the blowdrier to low
to finish off (about another 2 minutes).
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| Write a note or draw a map. This makes a terrific
birthday invitation for a fantasy themed party.
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| To finish off your letter or map, roll it up and
tie with a piece of wool or ribbon
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