What is decoupage?

I was visiting friends this weekend and we were talking about my art. One of my friends is a fellow crafter/artist and I was telling her about a decoupage technique I used on my ladybug paintings to apply some scrapbook paper. I used pink and white papers as the spots to add some depth and texture. To my surprise, she had never heard of decoupage! I love the stuff so much I couldn't believe she had never heard of it!

So, when I logged onto Design Dazzle this morning, the were featuring a decoupage dresser and I thought I just had to share my passion. This stuff is so great, you can use it to apply paper or fabric to almost any surface, sealing it in and making it stay put for good.

That means you can take an old beat up dresser and transform it into something totally new and unique. In this case they used old books with transportation illustrations to go with the room theme. Decoupage comes in matte and glossy finishes, and you just apply it to the back of the paper like glue and stick it on. Once you have everything where you want it, you go over it with another coat to seal it in and make sure none of those edges come up. For this project I would probably go with a glossy finish for a more polished look.

This same technique would be great on a children's table and chair set. Unfinished pieces are often less expensive and it is easy to dress them up and personalize them. You can cut out fun shapes with craft paper, wrapping paper or even wall paper and fabric samples. If you are not going to cover the entire surface, you will still want to put a coat of the decoupage (or Mod Podge) over the entire surface of the table so that you can't see where you stopped with the top coat on your papers.

For more tips, check out this article and example from ohdeedoh.com. How cute is that little end table? Plus, the art above could be make using the same technique and is so inexpensive to make.

You can use decoupage on almost anything in the house, it doesn't have to be just for the kids. Make a cute jewelry box with copies of your favorite photos, cover an old jar with fabric to keep your makeup brushes standing straight up in, the possibilities are endless!