Tea Dyed Tags

Recently I came across the sweetest little spice jars in my favorite vintage store. There were 9 of them and I bought them all. I had been searching for some small jars to keep my herbs and spices in. But they were too small for labels, so I thought I would use little tags instead. But the tags I bought were stark white and I wanted something a little more vintage. So I decided to 'tea dye' them.

These are the jars, nearly life-size. I love how they have that vintage look of old canning jars.

I simply brewed three cups of strong tea for the dye; English Breakfast, Chamomile, and Pomegranate Delight.

Soak the tags in the tea for 30-60 minutes.

Then lay them flat on paper towels to dry. Tags without metal rims may curl, so after they've dried, press them under a heavy book (using newspaper to protect the book from dye), or in between the pages of a phone book.

As you can see, I've ended up with three beautiful vintage colors, Darker (English Breakfast Tea), Lighter (Chamomile), and a purple-grey (Pomegranate Delight). You can experiment with colors by using different types of teas, such as Lemon Zinger, Orange Pekoe, or Darjeeling.

You can also use Easter Egg Dyes if you have any left over. Just be sure to use heavy paper-type tags to withstand the immersion in hot liquid.

These make charming gift tags, also.

The finished tags are easy to write on. (Sorry, this is a little blurry). I used a brown archival marker from the scrapbook section of my local craft store. This is permanent and waterproof and has a thin tip.

Here are the filled and labeled spice jars. They inspired me to do a little baking!

I even had enough tags to label my larger herb jars. Now everything is close at hand and clearly labeled for cooking, brewing and baking. What are you cooking this week?