One of the pins I found on Pinterest was a tutorial on how to "age" wood instantly. Really? Does that work? I MUST try this.
The original blog is "Our Original Adventures in Home Improvement" written by Pam. I followed her instructions and read through the comments to pick up some extra tips; then I set about trying it for myself. I won't leave you all in suspense: It WORKS! How cool is that?! Here is Pam's tutorial on how to age new wood.
One last note: things seem to "age" differently depending on the type of wood. These alphabet blocks aged nicely; a light grey-tan, and took a little effort due to my desire to wear off the paint. I have since aged a set of wooden spools and those aged completely differently; a dark grey-brown, and took little effort at all since all I had to do was dip them in the solution and let them dry.
Have fun experimenting!