The art of Decoupage

Decoupage is an easy craft and produces such delightful results that you will want to continue creating wonderful new projects.

The art of Decoupage is simply cutting out pictures and pasting them on furniture or home accessories to simulate painting.

This art was also know as poor man's art because in the olden days those who couldn't afford to hire an artist to decorate their furniture could obtain quite elegant effects with cut-outs pasted on and covered with multiple coats of varnish or lacquer.

Decoupage flourished in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries and many elaborate decorations on boxes, trays, chests and tables, formerly believed to have been hand painted, were later found to be merely cut outs cleverly applied by a crafty artisan.

I love to decoupage.

Several years ago I found that layering pieces of tissue on hat boxes or any other box,

makes a beautiful gift box which will not be thrown away. I even decoupaged a

small wall in my bathroom with layers of tissue paper. That project used up most

of my tissue paper stash. I limited the colors to shades of green and blue with a small dash

of pale yellow and rose. When the colors are layered, a new shade of

the color appears.

TECHNIQUE: Tear tissue into small irregular pieces. I use about 1/3 white

with my choice of colors. This will give you 'shades' or values of the

colors as you add layers. Paint a small area of the box with ModgePodge

(a decoupage medium available at the craft store for very little money).

Brush paste on smoothly, working from the center to the edges.

It is important to be sure there is enough paste to secure paper.

Cover area with pieces of tissue, smoothing each piece down with paint

brush and a bit of ModgePodge. Repeat until entire box is covered.

Let dry. Repeat until the box has three or four layers. I like to finish the

inside of the box with tissue decoupage also, however, painting the inside

is another solution.

OPTIONS: Instead of tissue paper, print family pictures using regular

paper...it's less costly and easier to work with. Create a collage by

Decoupaged shoe boxes make pretty accessories for a home office and keep

the clutter under control. A real treasure: cover a box with greeting cards,

including the message and their decoupaging the pictures to the box.

You can size the pictures to fit your project using PhotoShop.

I particularly like to put a favorite picture on the cover and use a

coordinating paper on the sides, bottom and inside the box.

Consider organizing your closets with a stack of decoupaged boxes to hold small

items and keep them at your fingertips. Adding a pretty label and/or ribbon

is a nice option.

Wastebaskets are another great surface to cover. Restore small, sturdy

occasional tables with a new decoupaged top.