Holiday Gift #2: Decoupage

Decou-what now?? I thought I'd scare away all of my five readers by getting crafty in my next gift idea! So whomever is left, please pull out your pinking sheers and let's get to work! I jest, of course, you don't need pinking sheers. You don't really even need a scissors. Just some good ol' fashioned Elmer's Glue, some ripped up paper inspired by your best bud, and a wooden container or small piece of stripped furniture. Alright maybe I lost you, let's go on a craftacular journey together:

Tool on over to JoAnn or Michael's or whatever craft store floats your boat. Meander to the wood crafts aisle and you'll find plenty of possibilities from larger cabinets to small wooden or even cardboardish boxes. Let's start small. Grab that little book box guy.


Decoupage medium is equal parts glue to water, so while you're there, pick up some trusty Elmer's. If you really do want to step it up a notch, however, I've used Plaid® Royal Coat and I LIKE IT!


[I've heard not so great things about Modge Podge...but it's up to you!]
Now don't stop there, this craft store also sells little sponge brushes that will come in handy. They should be nearby and come in plenty of sizes. Get a wide one for big areas and a small one for corners and crevices and such.



These are better than a typical paint brush because they don't leave a texture behind. HOWEVER! If texture is what you're going for, by all means use any old brush you've got lying around.

Totally freaked out yet? Don't be, this is fun! Now the craft store sells special decoupage paper, but it's usually pretty old fashioned and doily-esque, so if that cool cat in your life ain't down with doilies, head to the internet for inspiration! What kinds of stuff does Awesomest Person Ever really love? Hitchcock movies? Done! Get on eBay and win yourself a few posters and cut or rip out cool elements like the creepy attack from The Birds or the man falling into the white and orange swirl from Vertigo. You don't even have to buy posters though. You can find high quality versions simply by the magic of Google > Images > LARGE! Just make sure you print this stuff out from a pretty decent printer on pretty decent paper so it doesn't look all smeary and craptastic. Hey! Why don't you take advantage of the awesome color printer at work maybe!

If you go about your decoupage via Google Images and your lovely printer, the possibilities truly are endless. You can also get fab photos from magazines and old books lying around that you'll never look at again. Maybe your chick is into all things Vampire right now. Well you can't swing a dead cat without hitting high quality photos galore of pouty disheveled Robert Pattinson.



Once you've gathered all of your papery goodness, it's time to get your collage on. You could lay everything out beforehand to get an idea of how much coverage you'll need, but you don't need to be too anal about it. The whole point of collage is to rock the random.

Once you've got a basic plan, get gluin'! Decoupage is messy, but honestly, totally simple. The directions are even on the container of Royal Coat. In a nutshell:
1. Brush some glue to the back of the scrap and place it where ever you want. (With bigger scraps, it also helps to have some kind of smoothing device to get out the bubbles and wrinkles...even just the edge of a piece of cardboard will do.)
2. Repeat with the rest.
3. Wait to dry (some 10-15 mins)
4. Brush a coat of glue over the top of the entire thing in even strokes.
5. More drying.
6. Apply as many coats as you'd like.
7. More drying.
8. Done!*
*You can also apply some kind of acrylic sealant to lock in the delicious decoupage flavor once the whole thing has dried completely.

I will leave you with a photo of my first decoupage experience. This one was for my sis last year for Christmas. Hence the aforementioned Hitchcock suggestion. Sure, this was a little on the expensive side, but you could definitely keep your own project below $10.



And with that, I leave you to your imagination! Keep it cool. Keep it unique. Keep it personal. You'll create something truly kick ass. PS! Thinking of proposing this Christmas?? Why don't you decoupage a small box to put the ring box in. KABLAMO!! Double kick ass.