The Vinegar Method
This method will show you how to transform ordinary copy paper into medieval stationery through two types of vinegar: balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. The balsamic vinegar produces paper with the look and feel of a thin sheet of leather. The red wine vinegar yields a wrinkled, warped sheet of a rose-colored parchment.
The process requires some other ingredients and tools as well, but you should be able to find most of them around the house.
You will need:
- copy paper
- one 16 oz. bottle of balsamic vinegar
- one 16 oz. bottle of red wine vinegar
- two oven-safe containers larger than your paper
(for copy paper, 9-inch by 13-inch baking pans should work) - an oven
- a metal spoon
- aluminum foil, if your second baking pan isn't clean
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Pour a quarter-inch (¼") layer of whichever vinegar you want to use into the first container.
- Float a sheet of copy paper atop the layer of vinegar.
- Slowly spoon vinegar over the paper until it thinly coats the top side.
- Allow the paper to soak for a few minutes. Longer amounts of time will make the paper darker, but do not leave it in for longer than 10 minutes or it may start to deteriorate.
- Carefully remove the paper from the tea and allow excess vinegar to drain off.
- Unfold the paper and place it flatly onto the second baking pan.
- Bake the paper at 200°F for 8 minutes.
Bravo! Your very own sheet of medieval stationery!
If you used balsamic vinegar, you now have a sheet of faux leather that would make a spiffy envelope for a parchment letter. If you used red wine vinegar, you will have a sheet of parchment.
Check out my other videos to see how to make and seal the envelope.