Merriment Chain~ Day 2~ Tea Bag Ornies

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~Tea Bag Tree Ornies~

 Steep 4 bags in 1 cup of  boiling water for 3 or 4 minutes.  The herbal teas don't quite produce the color normal tea does. So I prefer using that.  I was using peppermint here because it sounded good this morning.

Let your tea bags air dry.  If you don't have the patience, you can pop them in the oven at 200 degrees for a little bit.  You just have to check them very frequently so they don't burn.

Find the graphics you want to use and re size them to 2x2.

I personally love The Graphics Fairy . I just opened them in Microsoft Word and did it that way.  Print them out on the glossy side of some freezer paper which has been cut to the dimensions of a regular piece of printer paper.  If they come out smudged, just wipe them off with a wet paper towel and try again.

Being careful not to touch the graphics, cut them to a size that you would be able to set on your tea bag.

 Now, take a wet towel and dampen the tea bag.  Don't saturate it as it will make the ink run.  Just wet enough to transfer the ink.

Lay it on the wet tea bag and with one hand hold it in place, and with the other rub a finger firmly over the entire paper. Carefully peel it off starting with a bottom corner.

Because your tea bags are dark and wet, the ink will not show up right away.  You will be able to see it more clearly as it dries. 

Now, embellish with rusty bells and pins.  I used burlap twine for my hooks. 

See, aren't they so pretty?  And someone laughed at me when I told them over the phone what I was making:)