Winter Wood Staining Tutuorial

Most of us crafters have a certain area where we like to stain our wood. Some have their own wood shops, others use their garage, storage building, tool sheds, or just outside for this project. In the summer I like working outside in the open, but when Winter's here I use hubby's work shop. I had got some nice new wood boxes made and wanted to stain them for making Christmas box lamps one year, but didn't want to go pre-heat hub's shed. (Yes, I was being lazy, LOL!) No way I could use wood stain inside the house so I had to think of another way that I could stain the wood. Below are my results and it worked beautifully! So if you're having a day as I did and a little lazy, or maybe you don't have an area during the Winter, give this a try....

What you'll need:
Your wood item to be stained (of course)
Instant coffee
Hot water
Sponge brush painter
Newspapers

First if you have new wood items (as I did) but want them to look aged/antiqued, you can do that by using a hammer, screwdriver, meat hammer, small chain, and other items. Make some knicks and bangs on the wood here and there to make it look aged/used. (I did not do that to my boxes in the pics.) Now spread some newspapers out over your work area. Next you'll need to mix up some coffee stain mix. I suggest trying a small spot to see if the mix is dark enough before painting the item. If your mix isn't as dark as you'd like, add more instant coffee till you get the desired shade. If painting objects like my boxes, you'll want to paint the inside first and allow that to dry.

Once dry paint the outside and allow to dry again.

Once it's completely dry, usually overnite, you can seal the coffee stain with a coat of clear Arcylic spray paint, Mod Podge, or your favorite sealer. Now you have a nice alternative to staining wood items inside, without the mess of wood staining products!