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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Decoupage Tutorial

Decoupage Jewelry Chest

In case you haven't noticed, decoupage is all the rage and I love it.  This little piece is one I purchased long ago to alter--two years later I'm finally getting to it--sound familiar?!?  



To begin, I removed the little pulls and marked the fronts of each drawer with an up arrow.  I'm really good at attaching things upside down so the arrow keeps me focused.  The paint bottle gives you a little size perspective--small.  Keep watch for the furniture piece I'm doing like this soon.



After drawers and knobs were removed, I used Frayed Burlap Distress Stain to stain the tops, sides and back of each drawer.  Apply the stain, let it dry and then reapplied two more times.  I also did this to the top of the piece.



Next, knowing I wanted to use vintage music paper, French Typography and a rose image, I headed to http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ to find the perfect images. These are the two I chose. 






 LOVE, LOVE Karen's selections and variety.

Next, I centered my piece of music paper (from a book of music I got at the thrift store) over the front of the piece (drawers out) and decoupaged the entire piece to the unit. 

TIP to avoid air bubbles when decoupaging: dip your paper in water FIRST then apply your decoupage medium to the back of the paper, place it over your desired piece, and burnish well.  Use care when using thin, older paper.  After burnished, apply a layer of decoupage medium over the entire surface and burnish well again.  I have used this technique many times and find it works so much better than just applying your medium, a little messier but worth it.

 After the paper was dry, I cut an "X" from corner to corner in the paper where the drawers go and glued the edges inside.  I did trim the excess so there was just enough paper to wrap into the openings.  You can see on the photo below.  

After that was completed I added another layer of decoupage medium.  I used Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Multi-Medium in a matte finish but anything you have will work.

I then cut two more pieces of music paper and attached them to the sides using the same technique as above.




 Next, I printed out the French letter to the size I needed to cover all the drawers.  I then measured, cut and decoupaged the french text to each of the drawers--paying attention to my up arrow.


After dry, I applied another layer of multi-medium.  Once that was dry, I went in with sandpaper and distressed all the edges and then inked to give the piece a vintage look.



Next, I printed the rose paper to the size I wanted and fussy cut the rose.  With drawers in place, I laid the piece on its back and aligned the rose exactly how I wanted it, 3/4 on the front and 1/4 on the side.  I dipped it in water, applied my decoupage medium over the back and attached it to the piece right over the drawers and the spaces in between, making sure to burnish it well everywhere.  I then painted another coat of medium over the top.  When it was almost dry, I used a sharp exacto knife and cut the image where all the drawer edged were.  Using care not to tear.







After it was completely dry, I removed each drawer and made sure the image was attached well.  I also made sure it was attached well over the rest of the unit.  When everything was as I wanted and completely dry, I sanded edges again and did a little inking.

To make the pulls, I used fillable charms I had and again printed 5 different roses from Graphics Fairy, this time very very small to fit the center of the charms.  I cut them to size, glued them to the charms and then filled the charm with Ranger's Crackle Accents.  I left them to sit overnight to dry and do their crackling -- (love that stuff).  I used 7 Gypsies Trim Hooks and Loops, which I hot glued to the drawers and then attached the charms with a small jump ring.

I love how it turned out.  What do you think?





46comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks great, love the piece.

Christian XO said...

Absolutely adorable! One day I will roll up my sleeves and take on my plain dresser drawers. :)

Unknown said...

Hiya

I just found this on Pinterest and can't believe that someone has pinned it without leaving you a comment... I like to pin from the source where I can (rather than re-pin, but that's just how I roll!!!), so I thought I'd come and see the full post.

I have to say that you have done the most wonderful job on this - I have SO MANY pieces like this and little boxes that you've inspired me to do this - I just love the look and the vintage/shabby chicness of it. Thank you for sharing not only the finished project, but all of the stages too.

Thanks - and hope you don't mind that i've pinned it onto my altered boxes board - and also my shabby chic board - I put it on both because I can't decide and like it enough to feature twice lol.

My pinterest profile name is
'Paula Hemingray-Gale' if you are ever interested in having a look - although if you've not already signed up for Pinterest - you might become addicted, so just wanted to warn you... off to look at some of your other projects now. Thanks again. xxx

mygator61 said...

Wow! Great idea! Thank you!

SuZignomeMoM said...

I find this very inspiring. Your use of materials and execution is flawless. You must know your finished chest is all over Pinterest with loads of positive comments. Good job.
SuZi

Anonymous said...

This chest is just beautiful! I love the rose on top and the charm knobs.
You are sooo creative! Did you keep this chest or sell it?

It's never to late to be who you want to be. I hope you choose well. If not, I hope you have the courage to begin again. said...

beautiful little treasure chest and great directions! I'm going to add this to my board Hatboxes and Girly Girl Stuff.

Unknown said...

Looks lovely. You have on a great job! What did you use to burnish it?

Palemoon4 said...

I think it is just gorgeous and you did a beautiful job...Love the way you did it. I hope you don't mind if I make one too..have the perfect place for it.

zudijj said...

Love this!!! May I ask a question or two? What is "burnishing" & "inking"? Or what is the process? Love decoupage , want to give it a try & u gave me the push I needed w this Amazing Box. I have the Ugliest Kitchen table that's just SCREAMing, "Do Something". Think this might be the answer. Much Thanks, Judi. ��

Blanca Oh my Patch! said...

Beautiful!! Nice work!

Iwana said...

totally completely awesome!!!! Loved loved loved!!! All my friends to whom I showed your cabinet were amazed!!! Thank you so much for sharing! Big hugs from Brazil!!

Amy Chalmers said...

Nicely done! Very creative and beautiful result.

Neena Shilvock said...

Hi love the work you have done on this - what inks did you use to distress the paper please?? I want to try this out - I have a mannequin I want to cover in sheet music - I have Mod Podge - will that be OK d'you think - I'd be interested to have your views - having never done this before
Neena

Unknown said...

This is just beautiful job well done i love it!!

Crafty Eileen said...

What a beautiful project. I love the papers you have chosen and the Rose just finishes it beautifully. The final finishing touches with the charms is the icing on the cake. Well done..... a beautiful work of art.

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely adorable!! I have to try it. How big is this entire set of drawers? Love it
Debbie

Bonita said...

Sheila, love this fabulous job! A few questions: when you say burnished are you referring to smoothing the paper out? Do you use a tool of some sort or simply your hands? What would you estimate was your total time and cost incurred doing this project. We'd like to try something like this but money's tight and we need to budget so a ballpark figure would help us greatly. Thanks for sharing, your work inspires us!

Denise Marie Saylor said...

I do a lot of deco but I'm always looking to improve the way it looks with bubbles and wrinkles. I'm interested specifically in your water dipping technique. I usually have my images printed on a laser printer at Staples, but I find that even if I'm rubbing it on the background and it gets moisture, it rubs off the image. If you're printing from the Graphics Fairy, then you don't appear to be doing anything different than I do! How can the image not come off when you dip in the water? And then what are you using to burnish while it's wet that isn't adding to that problem? Thank you so much for any input!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for these wonderful instructions. Your hint to wet the paper worked so beautifully. It makes sense since one does this to wallpaper but I never thought of doing this to decoupage. Best hint I have come across in a long time.

Anonymous said...

That's so cool! But what do you mean when you say that you inked it?

Anonymous said...

That's so cool! But what do you mean by you inked it to age it?

Anonymous said...

beautiful work!

Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

That is beautiful, thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love this. It's a real piece of art. In small rooms you sometimes have to make your art functional because just about every square foot has to be for necessity. This is so beautiful. I don't know if I can successfully do this but I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks!

Marcie Engel said...

What a beautiful project : )

Marcie Engel said...

What a beautiful project : )

Anonymous said...

You are so clever...thanks for the tutorial!

Marlene said...

Beautiful work!!!

Anonymous said...

This s gorgeous :-) x

Anonymous said...

What is inking? Awesome work!

DeMarie said...

I think it's fabulous.

Margaret said...

Beautiful! I love the pulls you created!

Adriana 🌹 said...

How cute! I want to try it! Lovely!

JDKlaus said...

What do you mean by inking? Also you just printed all the paper you wanted? Could I buy scrap paper and use?

KIMMER said...

Wow, I love what you did with such a "plane Jane" starting piece. You have really inspired me. I have been collecting The Graphic Fairy French items for a long time, but was afraid to start! Now I think that I can do this!

Thank you,
kimmer

Alberto el de las galgas said...

Just beautiful!!

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely Gorgeous! I would buy this in a heartbeat! For Sale? : )

Sarah
sarahleanngriffith@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Looks great!

Unknown said...

Absolutely gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely stunning! You're an artist. Best wishes, Jennifer

Alice G said...

I can't believe that nobody else left a comment on this project. It is lovely. Your instructions are great and I just happen to have a small chest at home that I hope will come out half as good as your project. Thanks for the great instructions.
Sincerely,
Alice G.

Unknown said...

your drawers turned out beautiful just love it

Unknown said...

love how it turned out

Mist said...

Loved it. Can one substitute store bought Mod Podge with something cheaper or home made?

Alice G said...

You probably can make your own. Check on Pinterest, there are lots of recipes for homemade modpodge. When I was younger I used to use watered down white paper type glue. If I remember correctly, it needed to dry for a long time in between coats. It was very cheap to use though. The library will have lots of old books with information too.