Decoupage: Bringing back a lost art
We all remember those rainy Sundays with mom doing various crafts. And a big one was always decoupaging. I can hear the eye rolls from here. Many people think it's just an old person craft or something to keep the kids busy and out of your hair. But it's so much more!
More Then Just Tissue Paper!
Imagine it, tissue paper as far as the eye can see! Colors, patterns, and scraps from Christmas. Then you sitting up at the table with newspaper under you and a bowl of Elmer's glue and water. You would often end the craft with sticky fingers and various colors all over you from the tissue paper bleeding. Doesn't sound like much fun right? But you were spending time with mom or grandma, and many good memories came from that sticky mess. One of the things that has brought decoupaging into modern day is figuring out just how many other thing you could do it with! And the invention of Mod Podge along with other brands of decoupage glue. Finally someone figured out the perfect ratio! If you are on Pintrest you have seen what other people have tried this technique on. Everything from pictures, ribbon, wrapping paper, and our personal favorite napkins!
A napkin for our Spring Napkin bundle. Was used on the wine glass tutorial in Diane's Instructional Design Studio
What Started As Decoration, Became A Business
Using napkins in my decoupaging wasn't an accident. I loved some of the patterns and the smaller size was a lot easier to handle then large sheet of tissue paper that you have to cut up. So why not try it? As you all know I work with the "lets just try and see and then learn form it" mentality. And it came out perfect! As time went on I perfected my technique. Learning how to apply just the right amount of glue, my plastic wrap secret, and learning exactly what color to paint under the napkin for the best results. Hint: its white! Think about it, napkins have white backing so the colors of the napkin pop, so paint white at least under where the napkin will go! Now that I had this down I HAD to share it! And like I said before, I don't like being put into a box, and our followers know that. So when I first went live on Facebook with this art form it blew their minds! I had taken a fun ,yet messy and sometimes boring, craft and showed them how they could make it sophisticated art for their home. Then came the questions! How do you do it, what do you use, can I buy napkins from you? So now on this very website we have napkins for sell along with a in depth tutorial using one! Can you believe it? Who would have thought?!
One of the side tables I have done for our living room
If It Stands Still, I'll Decoupage It!
Decoupaging is one of my very favorite crafts to do. The running joke in the house is, if you sit still to long I'll decoupage you. And I'll probably try! After doing things like table tops, I moved onto candles, wine glasses, book shelves, and even wicker baskets! Part of reviving a craft or art is pushing it to it's limits that may not have been considered before. What's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work, you learn, and you adjust. Like in my last blog, a fail could be quickly turned into a master piece. Don't be afraid to try try try. Especially if it's an art you have fond memories of. Happy Crafting! Or should I say decoupaging!
One of the biggest projects I've done, a whole book shelf that took roughly 30 napkins, many of which where hand cut so I had just the parts I liked the best.
