Saturday, March 3, 2012

Tea Bags and Creations

I use tea bags in many things I create.



And lately I seem to get some comments about the type of tea bags I use


Tea bags come in a variety of shapes - round ones, square ones or rectangle little pouches with strings attached to them. My favourite ones to use is the rectangle shaped pouches with strings attached.



Many brands bag there tea this way.

Lipton, TAZO, STASH, President's Choice, TWININGS are all brands I buy in Canada.




Once I have brewed my tea, I save the tea bag and let it dry for a couple of days.




I remove the string at the top of the bag by undoing the knot or removing the staple. I then open the bag into a tube and empty out the dried tea.



I then open the fold on the back of the bag.



It opens up larger than expected, and measures about 3.5 inches X 5.75 inches (14.5 X 9 cm).

Some people iron them flat at this stage, but I don't usually.


The colouring on the bags depends upon the type of tea. Some types of tea (such as Chai or Camomile) make it harder to open the bags, as it sticks more, and when open the bags sometimes ripe or have wholes in them. I seem to find a use for all of them anyway.



I have used tea bags on the cover of books.




on a collage block


to laminate feathers or flowers,



as a page inside a book,


in the creation of my tea bag luminaries,


or a variety of cards,






in a variety of accordian books,




and most recently in these type of creations.
I know I will continue to explore the use of tea bags in a variety of things I have yet to create.

It will be so much fun!

32 comments:

  1. i love them tooo kim, have you tried the raspberry and blackcuureent ones, the colors are amazing from purples to pinks and blues...., juts made a litle book myself out of teabags too...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay, thats my luminary up there!!! loving it

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love everything you make Kim but I do especially love your teabag made creations, so very unique and I love the ones I own :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love what YOU do with the tea bags! Just lovely - all of them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your tea bag art Kim...it's so earthy, warm and timeless. I remember seeing your illumination lights some time ago, but then I could not remember who did them. I am glad you posted this because now I know. : )

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for coming to visit my blog and your lovely comment. :) You've made such beautiful work with the tea bags, what a clever idea! I like the bird ones.
    Jess xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Kim, thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving me such a lovely comment. I have to say that your are, in it's golden hues is warm and beautiful. I love your tea bags, and your photographs and your birds!
    roxanne

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is so wonderful! I love what you do with those tea bags. I must try them myself on my mixted media work.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such wonderful creations. Really beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. A great post and thank you for sharing all about the tea bags, will save some of mine and have a play with them. Your ideas and artwork is so lovely and the tea staining really does give it a unique quality.
    Also enjoyed seeing where you live, wonderful photographs, you are surrounded by nature and beautiful scenery.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Kim ~ Found you through Judy's journal workshop (Flickr) ~ WHAT a way to start my day!! Your work speaks to me on so many levels... I don't know where to look first :) Your teabag art is so lovely - I have set aside some dried out ones but just never got around to doing anything with them. Now I am inspired! WIll return to browse some more through past posts - come visit me (I have 2 blogs, don't ask why... can't seem to keep up with either of them - lol). Will add you to my blog reader ~ xo Deb

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love your teabag art. Its fantastique!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AMAZING art - gonna have to try this!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Brilliant! Thanks so much. Taking the tea out, THEN drying it! Of course. I wondered why mine went moldy! Can't wait to try. Much appreciated . X

    ReplyDelete
  15. great post- and such a creative re-purposing! love the use of tea bags!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your luminaries are lovely. Do you coat them with anything special?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hey thats so awesome :D how do you make all this fabiulous things? Did you use some kind of spray to fix it? Would it be possible to "learn" how do you made it :)
    Greez from austria

    ReplyDelete
  18. do you laminate feathers and flowers with beeswax?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I just started to tinker with art. I'm a full time caregiver to my disabled husband and was BORED. Everyday I find something just mind blowing to try and this blog has sparked my enthusiasm for tea bags! Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love what you do with a tea bag! I used watercolors, but stamps and markers looks like it will be a lot easier to control.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Very nice craft. Thanks for so amazing post. I am big tea fan. I also love to collect the tea bags. I used to make tea with Chamomile Tea Bags.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think this is lovely. I have saved up a bunch of died out tea bags. I think it is fun to see what design pop up on the tea bag after it dries. I don't iron mine either but I could do that!You have given me so many new ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Preciosa tu creación,veré si puedo hacerla, gracias

    ReplyDelete
  26. Do you have a tutorial on how you make your teabag luminaries? I just finished a teabag journal.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I’d love to try teabag luminaries!! Clue us in!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. it is beautiful, in a world so full of pain and brutality, to see creativity take flight , to take the common into a new experience .. Merci

    ReplyDelete