Today, such a decoration technique as decoupage is very popular. At first glance, it seems absolutely simple: I took a picture, glued it to the base and voila, the masterpiece is ready. Everything seems to be correct, but there are a lot of nuances here.
What is decoupage
This technique came to us from the Middle Ages, when the craftsmen, in order to reduce the cost of furniture, began not to paint it, but to stick ready-made pictures and varnish them. Since then, the technique has been a little forgotten. They returned to it at the turn of the millennium, when technological progress made it possible to transfer any images to paper.
Not everyone knows how to draw beautifully, but I really want to decorate my life with painting. So the craftswomen began to make peculiar "stickers" on cutting boards, caskets, clothes hangers and even furniture. Wood decoupage alone is not that complicated. The main thing is to follow some rules and do everything extremely carefully.
Required blanks
First of all, it is necessary to purchase wood blanks for decoupage. They can be done independently, but this is only if there are tools and skills to work with this material. What can be the basis for decoration? Yes, anything: cutting boards, trays, plates, hangers, caskets, drawers, organizers, furniture facades. In general, everything from wood is used in everyday life.
Also, wooden blanks can be ordered in the carpentry workshop. They will cost an order of magnitude cheaper than in a handicraft store, but it is also advisable only if you put the decoration of some accessory on the stream. If you are only interested in trying the technique itself and making one or two funny little things for yourself, you can safely go even to the market, where craftsmen sell blanks for cutting boards and utensils.
We select drawings
Next, you need to find the drawings themselves. There are several options where you can get them. Firstly, decorative three-layer table napkins. Their manufacturers do not skimp on the abundance of motives, pictures and photos, wanting to make their assortment for any interior of a kitchen or dining room.
Secondly, for decoupage on wood, special decoupage cards are sold in needlework stores. Their advantage is that they print ready-made decorative motifs. For example, on the theme of architecture, a decoupage map will contain individual wall elements (bricks or log houses), windows and doors, elements of fences, and the like. It’s more convenient to work with them, because you don’t have to figure out which napkin to cut something like this out of the window opening.
Thirdly, you can independently find the picture you like on the Internet and print it on the printer. The advantage of this method is that there is always access to the illustrations that you need. The disadvantage is that office paper is much thicker and harder to prepare for further work.
Additional tools and materials
To fix the picture on the workpiece, you need to acquire such materials and tools:
- white primer on wood;
- different brushes;
- decoupage glue;
- stationery file;
- scissors;
- small rubber spatula;
- sandpaper;
- varnish (craquelure, glossy, matte or with a 3D effect).
This set is the most elementary, as experienced craftswomen also have special pastes for volume, putty, additional decorative elements (beads, bows, bells, flowers, lace). All this allows you to create real masterpieces in which decoupage itself acts as a decorative accent, emphasized by additional elements.
Now that everything you need is already at hand, and the desire to create is already seething through the top, you can disassemble step-by-step decoupage on wood. Photos of the process will be in the article.
Preparation for work
First you need to make sure that the workpiece is perfectly smooth. If this is not so, then you need to sand it with fine sandpaper. During operation, all movements should be directed in one direction along the fibers. Otherwise, you will not only not polish the product, but also spoil it even more.
When finished, wipe the workpiece thoroughly with a damp cloth to remove all wood dust. Let it dry a little and go on to the primer process.
To do this, you need a wide, flat brush. Do all strokes in the same direction and slowly to evenly coat the workpiece with a primer. It is important not to miss a single section, otherwise it will appear through a thin picture and create an ugly effect.
So that the process does not seem so complicated, for example, take decorative napkins for decoupage wood. And for beginners, step by step with the photo, we will analyze each nuance of their use.
Drawing processing
So, we take the napkin we like while the soil dries up on the workpiece and select the piece of the picture we need. The first time it can be cut, but for the future it is better to remember that needlewomen recommend tearing them off so that the edge is uneven. So it's easier to disguise.
Next, you need to delaminate this piece of napkin and for work take only the top layer on which the drawing is applied. All this must be done very carefully, since the workpiece is very thin and can easily be torn. And this is already fraught with nerves, and sometimes spoiled work. Now you can proceed to the most interesting.
Transfer picture
In principle, there is nothing incomprehensible here: we take a piece of the drawing and glue it to the workpiece. But the element itself is very thin and quickly soaks from glue. Therefore, you need to do everything as quickly as possible, but without rush and according to the rules:
- Try on the picture to the right place. If necessary, put invisible marks on the workpiece.
- We apply glue for decoupage on wood to the base.
- We attach the drawing and cover it with a clerical file. After that, through the file with a spatula, iron the motif from the center to the edges in order to drive out the bubbles and disperse the folds.
- Carefully remove the file and let the drawing dry completely.
At this stage, the work is over. Further decoration depends on the artistic idea of the craftswoman.
What next?
If you just wanted to make decoupage with wood napkins, then the last step is to varnish the product. To do this, neat strokes of a wide brush apply one or more layers of varnish. Each of them must completely dry before putting a new one.
But more experienced craftswomen do not do just decoupage. They continue to create, supplementing their products with applications from different materials, painting and tinting of individual sections.
Special attention should be paid to potal and craquelure techniques, which are often used in tandem with decoupage to give the product the effect of antiquity and wealth. Potal - these are the thinnest metallized plates (usually in gold or silver), which are produced in the form of small flakes or translation sheets. With its help, you can create the effect of semi-flaked gilding or silvering, which makes the product as if very old, vintage.
Craquelure is a varnish or paint that, after drying, crack with small cracks. Girls could observe such an effect in a manicure with cracks, popular several years ago. This also adds antiquity to any product.
Decoration Nuances
Putting a picture simply on a white background is uninteresting and boring. Therefore, you need to think in advance how the finished product should look. To highlight the picture itself and make it look like a colored frame, you can gently walk with a sponge in places necessary for such an emphasis before transferring it to the workpiece.
When you have perfectly mastered the decoupage technique on flat surfaces, you can move on to more complex decorative techniques. For example, having determined what effect should be from the picture and in what place it will be located, with the help of putty it is possible to create a relief base under it. So, in the place where the core of the sunflower will be, you can add volume and draw it in small diamonds, imitating the rows of seeds.
Decoupage on eggshells, beans and other embossed textures looks very interesting.
Creative Ideas
This is what wood decoupage looks like. For beginners, there is nothing complicated in it, and you can create a finished product in a couple of days, taking into account the time to dry each layer.
How can one decide what can be done and in what style? First you need to look around in your house around. You will definitely find some little thing that urgently needs restoration. Then think about where it will be after decoration. It depends on what style you need to create the decor. And after that you can go to the store. Decoupage for wood made of napkins is the easiest choice for beginners. No need to spend money on expensive materials and you can understand whether this particular type of creativity is right for you. If so, you can improve your skills and learn how to make money on your hobby.
You can create thematic products for the New Year, March 8, Easter, Birthday, wedding, christening. All the same napkins that you brought to a particular event to the nearest store can inspire you to such masterpieces. Such creativity is not just a pleasant pastime, but also an excellent part-time job if you learn to sell your products correctly.
Not just wood
It may seem to some people that this technique applies only to wood products. In fact, this is far from the case. You can decorate with cut-out pictures anything you like: fabric, metal, plastic, articles woven from newspapers.
In recent years, decoration and restoration of old furniture has been especially popular. Craftswomen take shabby wardrobes, cabinets, chests of drawers and transform them into completely new creations. Moreover, they are limited only by the stylistic decision of the interior in which this piece of furniture will stand.
Also quite often bottles and jars decorated with decoupage began to appear in the rooms. They become decorative accents that cause the delight of others.
But it is worth remembering that we took apart the decoupage on the tree step by step. Other materials have their own nuances of processing and preparation for decoration.
To summarize
In the article, we examined in detail for beginners decoupage on wood with a photo. This proved how simple and yet sophisticated this technique is. Conventional products are not at all difficult to create. But for real masterpieces, you will have to hone your skills and develop artistic imagination. But if business is really to your liking, then it will only bring pleasure, even if not everything works the first time.