How to Make New Sheet Music Look Old

I needed a lot of sheet music for a bunch of Christmas decorations that I will be selling at The Holiday House Boutique this week, but had no luck finding enough at local thrift stores. So, I decided to try to make do with what they did have.  I took it from bright white to this:

I found two college textbooks full of a couple hundred sheets of music. The problem is that they were BRIGHT white! Not fun and aged and vintage like I love. So I decided to try to change that, and give them a vintage patina.

{I am sorry about the REALLY bad pictures! I took most of them in poor lighting at night}

First, I tore the covers off of the book.

Then I made a big pot of coffee on the stove. I soaked one side of the whole book at a time in the pot. 

This made it just soft enough to squish it all down into the coffee. 

I just let it soak until it got a nice golden aged color and then I pulled it out of the pot and placed it on a cookie sheet. 

I guess I forgot to take a picture of this next part, darn it! I baked it in the oven {at 350} until the edges of the book turned dark, it dried out a bit, and the coffee color deepened. I think it took 20-30 minutes. {If you do this, please keep a CLOSE eye on it and don't burn your house down}

Then I just left it out for about 5 days while it dried out a little more. I flipped to a different section of the book each day to help dry it out a little more evenly. 

I pulled out pages individually {even though they were still damp} and ironed them with a regular clothes iron. {Again, be careful to not light anything on fire... I had NO issues but being extra careful is always a good idea} This book was spiral bound, so I cut the rough edges after I ironed the pages. 

They really look aged in person. They are perfect for what I am using them for! 

This would be so easy to do to age book pages too. 

I am excited to show you the Christmas banners and ornaments that I am making out of them!!