A vintage card is not only a pleasant, but also a very fashionable way to congratulate a loved one on a holiday. To make such a card in the best traditions of style, you will have to work hard, but the result will exceed all expectations.
You must clearly understand what you are doing and adhere to the design requirements. To understand these issues, you need to know exactly what kind of crafts and how their style differs from other similar creations.
Vintage is ...
Over the past ten years, the concept of vintage has been firmly rooted in our lives. But many still do not distinguish this direction from retro. The border between the two trends is very thin, because even experts can confuse them.
The concept of "vintage" is applied to clothing, interior, wine and, of course, to various crafts. Even among experts there is no consensus on how to formulate its definition. For each individual case, there is a different interpretation.
For example, when it is applied to wine, they mean a grape drink or a crop of a particular year. For the interior, this means combining several styles. For example, the design of the room, which uses imitation of antique, or really antique things, harmoniously combined with modern elements.
When we talk about vintage clothing, we mean wardrobe items that look like they had lain in the attic for a long time, were rubbed, burned out and torn. Thanks to its deliberate negligence, this style is firmly rooted in fashion and is clearly not going to leave it in the near future.
Vintage postcard, vintage photography, vintage music, vintage mechanics ... This list goes on and on. Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that this concept has not yet received one general definition for all cases.
So what is it? Any antique styled things? Or objects that look like they are at least 50 years old, and everything else is retro? No one can give an exact answer to these questions, but anyone will confirm: such products can hardly be called cheap.
Vintage Postcard Features
A vintage postcard looks as if it was created at least in the 80s of the last century. She embodies fashion trends of a certain period and can cost more than thirty thousand rubles.
To make it yourself, you will also need certain costs for materials and tools, but this budget is unlikely to exceed the price of finished crafts that are sold in stores or on the Internet.
When working, it is very important to carefully consider every detail of the design. You need to first study what was considered fashionable in the chosen historical period, to feel the mood of that era. And only after that you can begin to implement the chosen concept.
The most common materials for working on such a product are pieces of photographs, antique fabrics and embroidery. They can be purchased in specialized stores or made independently. In order to achieve the desired effect, there are many different ways. Consider the simplest options to complete old vintage postcards.
Add paper age
The most basic way to give the paper a yellow tint is to iron it with a very hot iron. In order to achieve a more saturated shade, you can repeat the procedure several times.
Alternatively, put the leaf in a well preheated oven. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that it does not catch fire. But if its edges are a little charred, it will look even better. Some masters specifically set fire to paper or cardboard, which they then use as the basis for crafts.
Also, ordinary sun rays will help to make vintage cards with their own hands . To age the paper in this way, you need to leave it in the summer for several days in a well-lit place, and ultraviolet will give yellow.
Water and fire
Another method is to place the material in a special solution. For its preparation, any kind of tea is suitable . If you want to use coffee, it is better to give preference to instant. There is no universal recipe.
The duration of soaking directly depends on what thickness and size the paper has. As a rule, it is kept in liquid for 10 to 20 minutes, and after that it is dried and smoothed with an iron. Another option with coffee is to wipe the wet material with its grains.
To make vintage-style postcards , milk is also used. They rub a sheet of paper or cardboard, and after it dries, they pass through it with an iron. To achieve a more saturated color at the edges, it is necessary to apply a double layer of liquid on them.
In addition, a very effective way of processing the basis of the future crafts - the use of open fire. To cover the paper with a touch of soot and burn the edges, you can hold it above a candle or a lighter. But this procedure must be carried out very carefully so as not to destroy the material and not to be injured by itself.
These were the easiest ways to age paper. Now we will figure out how to achieve this effect on the tissue.
We work with fabric
A vintage card is also created using fabric. She, like paper, should have a brownish tint and look like she is already a couple of decades old at least. To achieve the desired effect, we also need coffee and tea blends.
The following recipes are designed for about a meter or two of material. It is virtually impossible to accurately calculate the proportions, since each fabric has its own specific features, and the dye falls on any structure differently. Take these compounds as a basis. And then in the process, try different proportions of the components to achieve the desired effect.
Use tea
To make tea dye, pour half a pan of water and throw at least 8 bags of black tea into it. Place the cloth in a container and boil it for 5 minutes. If you want a more intense color, you can add another 1-3 servings of tea.
Do not use more than 11 sachets. For the rich brown color of this amount, you will be enough in full.
After boiling the cloth, pour the contents of the pan into the sink and rinse the material under the tap, removing excess dye. Then dry, and iron if necessary.
Do it yourself vintage cards (scrapbooking) can be made from both ironed and wrinkled fabrics. There are no clear rules for choosing any of these options. Just look how harmoniously this or that look fits into your design concept, and make the final decision.
Coffee to the rescue
A vintage postcard, the master class on the creation of which we present, can also be made using fabric dyed coffee. To prepare the necessary solution, brew a natural drink. For its preparation, use the following proportion: one tablespoon of powder per cup of water. For staining, you will need approximately 10-12 such servings.
Pour the required amount of coffee into the pot and pour water, adhering to the specified proportions. Dip the fabric completely into the mixture and boil it for about five minutes. Then pour the contents of the pan and rinse the material with running water.
Note!
Dyeing with coffee gives the fabric beautiful gray shades. In addition, after this solution on the material will remain its persistent aroma, which will last for a long time.
On the one hand, it can bring novelty to your craft, it will be fanned by the aromas of the coffee shop. On the other hand, if you donβt like the smell, you have to wait a long time until it disappears.
Tea, in turn, gives the fabric beautiful light brown or even golden hues, but its smell does not last long. Therefore, when choosing such a dye, it is better to take the most ordinary cheap drink without additional flavors.
Alternative methods
Vintage Happy Birthday cards can also be decorated with fabric dyed with a mixture of pomegranate juice and red wine. Components must be used in equal proportions. They give a beautiful purplish-brown color, but require certain financial costs.
A more economical way is to use a mixture of iodine or potassium permanganate. Dilute 10-20 drops of one of these components in water and boil the tissue in it for 5-10 minutes. There are frequent cases when the color falls on the material so quickly that it does not even need to be boiled.
When you have aged the foundation and selected the design, you need to collect the necessary decor elements for work. It can be photos, bows, flowers, etc. From tools you will need a corner hole punch, special signets, paints, double-sided tape. With their help, you will create unique vintage postcards "Happy Birthday". In addition, you can make a present for any other holiday.