

Here are some of the books I found at the library. I didn’t have access so I passed around the books to give them a sense of the artwork. If you’re with a group and have access to a computer and a projector, there are lots of gorgeous examples of illuminated manuscripts online. I requested a bunch of art books on illuminated manuscripts from our library to show the kids. So I drew the border in pencil to speed things along and to ensure that each child could get started on their border design quickly. So I knew I didn’t want to waste time with ruler work. At our co-op, I was only going to have 40 minutes for this project with kids ranging from 4 to 14. Why? Many illuminated manuscript pages have gorgeously intricate borders. Once the cardstock was fully dry, I broke out my ruler and pencil and drew a one-inch border around each piece of paper. Step 2: Add a border to your Manuscript Pages
Illuminated manuscript borders printable pro#
Pro tip: After the cardstock dries most of the way, stack heavy books on top of the pages to keep the paper from curling and warping too much as it finishes drying.

A fun bonus was that the wax paper pressed against the wet surface created interesting effects as the tea dried. Then I stacked the wet cardstock between wax paper (parchment paper would work too) since I didn’t have a large surface on which to dry 36 pieces of paper. And could even get the kids in on this process!

If you have the time, you could do this several times to build up the washes for a more layered and aged look. Then I used a paintbrush from my kids’ stash of art supplies and brushed on the tea. I boiled a cup of water and added 4 black tea bags and let it steep. There are a few ways to do this but because I needed to prep for 36 children, I opted for the simplest approach. To replicate the look of vellum or parchment, I stained the plain white cardstock with tea.
