By Fleur Clarke

Posted on October 1, 2014 in Craft Corner with tags Decoupage, Tutorial

This was my first ever attempt at decoupage  (aka gluing bits of paper on things), but I’m pleased enough with how it turned out to share pictures. If you think you can handle taking a pair of scissors to a book, here’s a quick how to guide.

 

Things you need:

• The item you want to cover
• Decoupage glue
• A paint brush
• Lots of paper
• Scissors
• Wire wool

Step One: assemble your materials

The only thing you might have to go out of your way to get is decoupage glue. I got mine from the crafting nirvana that is Hobbycraft. While I would highly recommend paying a visit to Hobbycraft and seeing for yourself just how many varieties of glue there are in the world, you can get the glue online here.

You can also get decoupage paper from Hobbcraft, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, I got a very cheap edition of Grimm’s Fairytales. Primarily for incredible illustrations such as the one below…

Step two: cut up your pieces of paper

 

You will soon, no matter what precautions you take, be covered in glue. So get cutting and save yourself a world of pain.

Step three: prepare your surface

This step was very easy for me, as the box I was covering was brand new. I just swished around some wire wool, gave it a quick wipe, and hey presto. For more heavy-duty preparation, sand paper may be required.

Step four: the fun begins

Brush the surface with glue, get you piece of paper in position, smooth it down (while trying to prevent any bubbles) and brush over with glue again. If you make a mistake, you can always cover it up with more paper.

Step five: the fun continues

 

I don’t have many pictures of the in-between stages, because I remember this taking at least 5 episodes of The Good Wife and emerging from the experience in a bit of a daze. There’s really not much too it though. I chose to do mine in quite a haphazard manner (deliberately, of course), combining ripped edges and cut outs of the illustrations.

 

Step six: wait

When the glue starts to dry, the horrible milk effect will disappear and you’ll be left with shiny shiny surfaces. Don’t let this deceive you. The drying process takes a while, so leave it at least 24 hours before you start putting it near to anything it might stick to. So sit back, peel the glue off your and let it be.

 

Step seven: show off your handy work in a prominent position

There’s no point taking this much time over something if you’re not going to show it off, so display with pride.

Then, start contemplating other ways you can use this technique. Thinks comics. Think epic fantasy maps. Here are a few ideas I found across the internet…