My Decoupage Art Coffee Table!

Hello all you lovely people :)

I am so excited to be sharing my Decoupage Art with you today. I have been inspired by Selenarte Decoupage, and wanted to explore this art for myself, it turned out beautiful!

 

Hope you enjoy reading this tutorial, as much as I enjoyed doing it!

xoxo

DIY: Découpage Coffee Table: Art, Culture and History Spanning the Ages

Decoupage’s origins are speculated to have started with East Siberian tomb art.  The tombs of the deceased from Nomadic tribes used to be decorated with cut out pieces of felts.  The practice traveled from Siberia to China, which by the 12^th Century, using the decoupage method of cutting out paper became popular.  It was vintage art which was used to decorate lanterns, windows, boxes and other objects.  It’s thought these practices made its way to Europe by way of Italy, who in the 17^th Century, was at the forefront of trade with the Far East.

Drawing forth this ancient form of art into the modern world, I made a visit to Blick’s Art Supply store which had beautiful handmade paper.  In decoupage bliss I picked out a few lovely pieces to work with.  My goal was to use a desk from Shop4furniture; a hand me down from my mum.

 Materials:

·         Sponge brush – 4 inches for larger projects

·         Paper of your choice

·         Mod Podge

·         Measuring tape

·         Rag

How to:

1.      Clean the surface of your medium

 

 

2. Cut out your pieces to exactly the size you need them to be.   

Hint: As shown in the picture I smoothed down the corners of the paper around the surface I needed them to fit in order to create a bend I could follow to cut.

3.      Arrange them and make sure they fit the way you’d like them to.

4.      Apply Mod Podge to the back of the paper.

 

5.      Apply the paper to your medium, one piece at a time.

6.      Smooth the paper with your hand, starting in the middle and working toward the edges.

7.      Take your sponge brush and start brushing on a medium thick coat in large brush strokes over the whole project.  Be careful not to be too rough with delicate paper.

8.      Allow to dry according to the bottle, and apply a second coat if necessary.

Voila, from boring table to a unique and beautiful piece for your home collection!  Love your home for less has been my motto and I believe anything can be made beautiful if you put your heart and soul in it!