Treasure hunt

treasure hunt



I am the cub scout craft lady for our cubs. This month we are talking about communication. Part of that is codes and clues and such so we are sending them on a treasure hunt in the church building we meet in. I made up the clues (between midnight and 3 am) and then Saturday I made the clues. Believe it or not, the paper the clues are on started out as plain white typing paper Saturday morning. By Sunday morning, they looked like this:

 

and this . . .

 

How did you do it? Looks really good.

 

Thank you. You want me to give up my secrets?!? I will say - I googled how to make paper look old and all I found was to soak it in coffee or tea. That is not what I did...

 

Lol what did you do? Soak it while you were soaking driftwood in little water?

 

Nice clues!!

 

Lol what did you do? Soak it while you were soaking driftwood in little water?

Nope. I don't have any driftwood that would color it. Besides, if you soak paper too long, it dissolves!

You all want to keep guessing?

 

I bet I know what you did because I used to do it for my own crafts. If you hold paper just above a match or candle flame (only under adult supervision of course), it yellows the paper; you can also use the flame to give the edges a tattered look and make the moth holes. Crumpling it up really tight and then smoothing it out will make it look older, as well.

Those clues are great. I bet you're the coolest cub scout lady there. ;D

*Also, does anyone think of Harry Potter while reading those clues? I can't think of why....

 

awesome work Gremlin!

 

It looks awesome!

 

laid it on a 100w light bulb?

 

I did use a candle flame to scorch the edges and make the holes. But not the aging part......

 

you crinckled it up then stained it...like a tie-dyed thing....but you didn'y use coffer or tea......vinegar?

or you bought antigue looking paper?....lol....I give up

 

I did a similar project not too long ago. We used white paper, Coffee mixed with water, ( I added some mud lol) and with a brush, paint it with the mix. Do it a ocuple times, and then wait for it to dry. Then, with a lighter, burn the sides and if you want several holes.
Gremlin, this brought back soooo many childhood memories!
thank you lol

 

Nope. I don't have any driftwood that would color it. Besides, if you soak paper too long, it dissolves!

You all want to keep guessing?

hmmmm....maybe you put in dirt. Well I put some dirt on it and sprinkle with water.

 

Nope, no vinegar - no dirt.

Give up yet?

 

Hmmmmm maybe you bought old looking paper or used fire.

 

Nope - it was brand new typing paper. I did use fire on the edges and to make the holes, but not to color the paper.

 

Hmmm maybe your water change water??? You did something to it.

 

Baked In The Oven Or Put The Sheets In Your Toaster...lol

 

Rats a fire hazard, papers in toasters, didn't you watch bourne ultimillate? He blew up the house by sticking papers in the toaster and turnng in the gas. Well I say you soaked it in BBQ sauce. Or took some wood staining stuff and used that.

 

Hehehhehe, well whatever you did, gremlin, you certainly have lots of new ideas now, don't you? lol I'm torn between wanting to know what you did & waiting to see what other creative ideas our fishlorians come up with.

 

Hehehhehe, well whatever you did, gremlin, you certainly have lots of new ideas now, don't you? lol I'm torn between wanting to know what you did & waiting to see what other creative ideas our fishlorians come up with.

Some of these ideas are very ''unique''.

 

Okay - clue - No I did not use heat. No I did not use any food product.

Oh, and no I did not use wood stain - but that is the closest idea so far...

 

Okay - clue - No I did not use heat. No I did not use any food product.

Oh, and no I did not use wood stain - but that is the closest idea so far...

Did you use that gross water that comes after soaking driftwood?

 

Did you use that gross water that comes after soaking driftwood?

Nooooo

 

hair dye or shoe polish?

 

nope

 

Did you grind, pulp, smash, dry, and cut your own paper? (lol, I'm running out of possibilities!)

 

Nope.

any more guesses?

It was actually fairly simple. It took a while and it was kind of messy, but it was fun.

 

finger paints mixed with water??? Apple juice?

molassas?

maple syrup?

Old filter stuff...that's messy.

oh, oh, oh...an Iron!!!!!!!....

 

lol I am stumped. Hmmm. Did you pizza on the breakfast? I ran out of ideas.

 

I have not a single idea that hasn't been said but I am interested to find out what you did ;D.

 

Oh pick me I know I know pick me, well ok you broke a brown market and soaked the marker in water then you crumpled the paper and let it sit in the marker water then you took it out and semI uncrimpled it then you let it air dry!

 

Very simple.

Step 1: Crumple a sheet of paper.
Step 2: Un wad it and spread it out
Step 3: Drop small blobs of acrylic craft paint around the paper. I used brown ochre and golden brown to get a good shade and mix of the yellowing and aging.
Step 4: Lay the paper in a tray of water. I used a cookie sheet and could do two at once.
Step 5: (This was the fun messy part) Using your fingers, completely submerge the paper in the water and smear the paint around.
Step 6: Turn the paper over.
Step 7: Drop more paint on the second side.
Step 8: Smear the paint around.
Step 9. Remove the paper from the water and lay flat to dry. I used a couple of paper towels because I didn't want any ink from newspaper to transfer or any of the paint to stain anything else.

You now have some old parchment. At this point it will still go through the printer. After I printed the clues I did the following:

Step 1: Cut to size around clues (I had two clues per page so I cut mine in half).
Step 2: Wet the edges and pull to tear. This makes a nice jagged uneven edge.
Step 3: While the edges are still damp, hold in a candle flame to scorch. I kept a bowl of water next to me so if the paper actually caught fire I could put it out right away.
Step 4: Decide where you want "holes" in the paper and poke a small hole with a toothpick.
Step 5: Hold the paper right over the candle flame. The paper will start to darken and the flame will burn from the hole you poked outward. Blowing on the paper will make it char faster and also blow out any flame to help control the burn.
Step 6: (Optional step) Drip very small amounts of melted wax here and there on the paper. I found it was actually better to start with a very small drop of wax and then warm it from below so the wax soaked into the paper. It made parts of the paper look almost translucent.

I had fun making this paper. It could even be a good craft project. Yes, I do have more pieces of paper...hmm - what to do, what to do...


P.S. Make sure the paper is completely uncrumpled before you get it wet. Otherwise it will tear, which is okay for later, but you want it to stay in one piece to print on.

 

Oh I know what you can do, you can take a price of paper and print off a pirate map onto the paper then send it in the mail to some random person with no return adress, it will creep them out. Or you can roll it up and write in it: if found please call( stick your phone number or email) ten tie it to a heliom ballon and let the balloons go then you can see where they end up

 

Such fun Gremlin! Thanks for sharing
carol

 

That is fun!!!. thank you for the great idea!!.

 

Oh I know what you can do, you can take a price of paper and print off a pirate map onto the paper then send it in the mail to some random person with no return adress, it will creep them out. Or you can roll it up and write in it: if found please call( stick your phone number or email) ten tie it to a heliom ballon and let the balloons go then you can see where they end up

Interesting. I would actually try the pirate map.

 

Dang, that was going to be my next guess too!!!!...lol

I'll go for the coffee staining.....you can recyle the hot coffee (do this project early in the morning) as soon as the paper is stained!!....coffee, fresh off the stove! Add a little 1/2 and 1/2 to lighten the coffee coloring, one teaspon of sugar to stiffen the paper.