Homedeas: Crafts: General Info on Decoupage

Hello,

Decoupage has been very popular in Turkey for many years. I tried to compare the Turkish bloggers with the rest of the world and I see that we are more into decoupage than the rest of the world. That eventually led us to have many beautiful examples of decoupage. In this post, I will summarize the general information on decoupage and the materials needed. Then I will introduce you with some highly talented Turkish crafters who mainly focus on decoupage.

Let me start with the definition of decoupage by the wholly Wikipedia :)

Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on. Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. (Wikipedia)

The picture below is an old and good example. If you click on the link, you will see the it was sold for over €10k. It is a Spanish Lacca-Povera Casket.

Materials Needed for Decoupaging

Object that will be decoupaged: Wooden objects, boxes, plastic objects, glass, rocks, baskets. It could be almost anything as the paints and glues are very talented now.

A material that will be glued on the object: Newspapers, journals, magazines, books, maps, any kind of pictures printed by a laser jet printer, napkins, patterned papers and fabric. I even read somewhere that even dry flowers could be decoupaged.

Decoupage Mediums: These are the glues that are used to stick the image to the object. I know that Mod Podge rocks abroad. However, it is not very common in Turkey as the price is expensive after all that importing taxes. We have alternatives called decoupage medium. I have read on many blogs and crafts websites that Mod Podge can be made at home by mixing some Elder's Glue and water. But I did not try that myself and I have heard that it causes the images to turn yellow in time.

Scissors, x-acto knife and brushes: Scissors and x-acto knife are ok as we all know what they are. But brushes are a little tricky. You may not know which one to choose. Actually it should depend on the object that you will paint and make the decoupage on. Wide brushes are good for big objects or you can use foam brushes as many do.

Sealer: You can use glue to seal your work which means you can spread a layer of glue on top of the decoupaged image. Then you can use vernish to make it more solid.