Decoupage for beginners: technique, step-by-step master classes

You can transform old or ordinary objects into unique ones using various techniques, but one of the most popular and affordable is decoupage. Available materials and tools are used in the work. All you need is “special” is paper or napkins. And about how to master decoupage for beginners, we will tell below. You don’t have to buy anything super expensive. Glue, napkins, varnish, brushes, scissors. That’s the whole set of necessary tools. 

Decoupage for beginners: we collect everything you need

To begin with, briefly about what and with what you have to work. In general, decoupage is fixing on the basis of material or paper with a printed pattern. In order for the pattern to last longer, it is covered with several layers of varnish. Here is a brief description of the decoupage technique.

Base

As bases for decoupage, any slightly absorbent base is suitable. What can this technique be applied to? On the following grounds:

• Wood of any degree of processing (without impregnation, with impregnation, sanded or not, painted, varnished). It’s just that the preparation requires a special list of works and the time spent on preparation will be different.
• Plywood, treated or not.
  

• Plastic – colored, transparent, smooth, rough.
• Glass and products from it.
• Porcelain, faience.

As you can see, the list is solid. Only very porous bases with a lot of irregularities are not suitable for decoupage. And so you can decorate everything: from dishes of any kind to furniture and doors (and you can use both the surface of the doors and glass inserts).

List of tools

Few tools needed:

• Small sharp scissors (you can use good manicure or stationery, medical). You can – several pieces with different shapes of blades.
• Tassels and brushes.
  • To work with small items for decoupage, you will need flat brushes with a width of 0,8 to 2,5 cm. The pile is thin artificial. It is convenient to apply glue and varnish with such brushes.
  • For applying acrylic paint, when you paint over the base, it is more convenient to use a sponge. But it gives a rough foundation. In order for the surface to be smooth, you need a brush – flat or round, but larger (depending on the size of the product).
    

  • Fine art brushes are required to draw and emphasize details.
• Rollers of various sizes. But not those that paint walls / ceilings, but smaller ones – a few centimeters wide. They are also convenient to cover the base, apply the first layer of varnish.
• You also need a palette – for mixing colors and getting the right shade, but this is not necessary. Disposable plates or plastic lids are also suitable.

All of the tools. Unless you still need stationery – a ruler, a pencil, an elastic band.

Expendable materials

Now let’s talk about consumables. We will not talk about napkins and paper here – there is a separate paragraph about them. In addition to them, to make decoupage with your own hands, you will need:

• Acrylic water-based varnish. You can, of course, take another, but this one is the best. Does not smell, does not darken over time. This varnish is different. It can be transparent or with some kind of effect (with sparkles, antique, etc.). The surface can be matte, semi-matt, glossy, semi-gloss. Suitable for both ordinary construction and special for decoupage (more expensive).
  

• Acrylic paints. They finish drawing, tint the drawing so that the picture assembled from the pieces is a single whole.
• Sandpaper. Grain take medium and small, several gradations. Again, it depends on what you’re processing. For the initial sanding of wood, you will need paper with a grain of 250-400, for finishing – with a grain of 600-800 (it makes sense to use a finer one only on grinders). We will also sand the shortcomings of your work after drying with sandpaper.
• Glue. In needlework stores there is a special glue for decoupage. But he’s expensive. It turns out no worse if you use PVA glue.
  

• Priming. Used to reduce the absorbency of wooden surfaces.
• Wood putty. Also a specific material that is used when sealing wood defects.

That’s all that may be required, so although it requires decoupage for beginners, cash investments, but not very large ones.

Napkins, paper

For decoupage, napkins and printed paper are used. They are glued to the surface, varnished. There are the following types of materials for that type of decor:

• Napkins. Most often they are three-layered – the two lower ones are not used. The drawing is applied on the top layer. It is separated and used at work. You need to be able to work with napkins, as they are very thin, stretch, bubble, tear. In general, you need a certain skill in the work. Napkin decoupage for beginners is not always easy. The average price is 12-18 rubles per pack.
  

• Decoupage card on rice paper. The drawing is applied to a canvas of rice or mulberry fibers. It is easier to work with it, since it is more elastic, stretches better, and does not deform when working with compounds containing water. There are different sizes (up to A4 format and more) and density, the cost of one card is from 70 rubles.
• Decoupage cards on paper. Plain paper is used, on which drawings are applied. Good for gluing on flat surfaces, as they practically do not stretch. It differs not only in size and patterns, but also in density. The cost of paper cards for decoupage is from 35 rubles.
  

• Prints on photo paper. You can order a print of any unique image. It will be transferred to thin photographic paper, but to work with it, you need to know certain tricks.

In general, special pastes are also used to create three-dimensional images, ordinary photographs from which the bottom layer of paper has been removed and other drawings. But it is not easy to work with them, and this is not decoupage for beginners, but for those who are already developing their skills.

Napkin decoupage: techniques

The main idea of ​​decoupage is to decorate the surface with an image or pattern. The process is creative and there are no concepts of “right” or “wrong”. Surfaces and patterns are different, so different techniques are used. You just have to choose the way that works best for you.

The easiest way to start mastering decoupage is by gluing large fragments. When you learn how to glue napkins without wrinkles, you can move on – master the methods of volumetric decoupage or the use of crequelure varnish. In the meantime, let’s figure out how to work with large fragments.

Preparatory work

First of all, you need to remember that napkin decoupage for beginners will have to start with the preparation of the base. It should be even, smooth, without pits, cracks, humps (except for those provided specifically). To help – putty and sandpaper. After the surface is leveled, the workpiece is covered with soil (selected according to the type of material) and then covered with white paint.

The stage of applying white paint is mandatory. The fact is that the napkins are very thin, and when glued, they become translucent. If they are pasted on a white surface, the pattern is still bright. If the surface is colored or dark, it fades noticeably, there is no proper effect. Therefore, the paint must be applied even to plastic or ceramics and, possibly, in several layers.

What to do with a napkin

First you need to decide in what form to use a napkin.

• If the surface is flat, it can be glued as a whole.
• On a curved surface you can not glue the whole. It needs to be divided into parts. They can be:
  • cut out;
  • tear.
    

How to decide whether to tear a napkin or cut out elements from it? According to the size of the picture. If the fragments are large, have clearly defined boundaries, they are cut out. If the drawing is small, one will be pasted next to the other, they are torn. In this case, it will be easier to match the edges.

Gluing methods

You can choose how to stick napkins for decoupage only by experience. First of all, we decide what exactly we will glue. Can:

• Lacquer
• Special glue.
• PVA – divorced or not.
• Glue stick.
• Egg white.

Gluing on varnish is no worse than glue. But after drying, you can’t do anything anymore – the napkins become almost monolithic with the product. If you don’t like something, there will be no chance to change it. Therefore, beginners most often use PVA glue – it is cheaper, it is convenient to work with it.

If you decide to use PVA, you will still have to think (or try) to use it diluted or undiluted. Most often it is diluted with ordinary water in a ratio of 1: 1. When such an adhesive is used, one must be prepared for the fact that the napkin soaks from water, can stretch in different directions, and tear from careless movements. Basically, you have to get used to it.

Glue stick is also a good option… if you can get all the bubbles and wrinkles out. This is normal on smooth, slippery surfaces. If the surface is rough, it is much more difficult. It is safe to work with egg white, but it is specific, so if you want, you have to try.

How and where to apply adhesive

Beginners usually choose a small size for their first object for decoupage. In principle, this is not bad. It’s just desirable that the shape be simpler: without a lot of bends.

If the decoration is small, you can use a brush or fingers to apply the glue. With the same “tool” then level the napkin. The brush is used flat or true – to whom it is more convenient. Many people prefer to work with their fingers – you can feel all the folds.

When gluing napkins for decoupage, glue can be applied to an object or a napkin. They do it this way and that. When applied to a napkin, again, there are two techniques:

• Glue is applied evenly to the entire glued piece, applied to the base in the middle. With movements from the middle to the edges, air bubbles are expelled and wrinkles are straightened.
• A certain amount of glue is poured into the middle of the fragment. Further actions are the same: lay on the base, smooth.

In the second technique, it is easier to deal with bubbles and wrinkles – with a large amount of semi-liquid glue, this is easier.

You can also do it if you spread the glue on the base: make a small puddle in the place where you are going to glue the fragment, lay it down, and, lifting the edges, drive out the bubbles and smooth out the wrinkles.

Decoupage of a flat surface: glue + iron

When decorating a flat surface, you can do it easier than driving bubbles through the entire napkin. On the primed surface, apply a layer of PVA glue or coat with a glue stick. We smear it well so that “paths” do not form. Let’s dry. You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

On the dried surface we lay and level the napkin, smooth it with our hands. We put a piece of baking paper on it and with a hot iron from the edge we begin to smooth it.

Due to the fact that the glue is heated, it impregnates the napkin. Usually it turns out quite evenly. When everything is glued, smear glue on top and let it dry. This is perhaps the easiest way to learn decoupage for beginners.

File + water and glue

Decoupage for beginners using a file for documents (we choose a denser film), water and glue. This method is good if you decorate with large drawings (cut out). Pour a little clean water into the middle of the file, put the cut out fragment into it, face down. We carefully straighten it, expelling bubbles and straightening wrinkles. It’s easy in a puddle of water.

When the fragment is straightened, lift the edges of the file and drain the water. The pattern remains adhered to the smooth film. In this state, it is convenient to “try on” and look for the best place for him.

Having found the area where you want to place the decoration, we apply the drawing on the film and begin to smooth it. This is a very difficult moment. It is necessary to ensure that at least one edge of the napkin sticks. After one of the edges of the image has been fixed, gradually smoothing and gradually lifting the edge of the film, we achieve that the napkin remains on the base. If you act gradually, gradually gluing the picture to the base, there will be no bubbles or wrinkles. This method is suitable as decoupage for beginners.

The last stage – we coat the adhered napkin with diluted PVA glue. After it dries, we already apply a protective layer of varnish.

A few secrets

This cannot be called a method of gluing napkins for decoupage. These are little tricks and tricks that can help you deal with creases faster or better.

1. Before work, the cut fragments are moistened with water from a spray bottle. The napkin stretches, drying it no longer shrinks. If she has become very warped, she is ironed. Then use as usual. Since the paper is already straightened, it almost does not stretch. Everything goes easier.
2. Moisten the fragment with acrylic varnish in the form of an aerosol. In this case, the napkin will become stiff, it does not stretch and does not form folds. But lacquered, it no longer allows glue to pass through, therefore we coat the surface with glue and a treated napkin on it with glue.
3. Soak a napkin that is already on the base (dry) and only then coat it with glue. It’s hard to explain, watch the video.

We eliminate flaws

If the surface is decorated with small torn fragments, from which it is necessary to obtain a single whole, straighten the edges of the fragments with a brush or fingers. If somewhere there is a heterogeneity of color, we dilute the paint of the desired shade and paint over the translucent base.

When the surface is no longer very wet, but not yet dry, you can draw details with thin brushes and acrylic paints, add brightness and clarity.

The next step is the design of the edges of the product. Here the approaches are different. Somewhere you have to cut the edges evenly, painting over the sidewalls, somewhere you can wrap the napkin on the back side and glue it there. In general, this is also a whole science.

After that, you can already leave the product to dry. To speed up the process, you can use a hair dryer, but you need to keep it at a considerable distance, move all the time and make sure that it dries evenly. If, after drying, you see that there is a crease on the glued napkin, you can still fix it. We take fine-grained sandpaper, sand it. We act gently so as not to damage the drawing around.

Varnishing

The dried product is covered with water-based acrylic varnish. You can use another, but this one is recognized as the best. First one layer is applied, after it dries, the second. You can stop at this, but if active use is expected (caskets, chairs, etc.), there can be more layers of varnish – three or four.

Photo of decoupage products

Learning the technique is not bad, but without knowing the possibilities, it is difficult to imagine what can be done and what can be expected. A few photos will help you decide what you can or want to do.