A Few “Super” Interesting Facts About the Decoupage Technique You Don’t Know

decoupage
from the French word découper, meaning to cut or cut out

Decoupage is a crafting technique that involves simply cutting out napkins, printed rice paper, or similar types of thin paper, then gluing them onto a surface you want to decorate.

In addition to napkins and glue, this technique also involves using:
- acrylic paints
- paste with special effects
- varnishes that create cracks and give an antique look
- small embellishments that can be glued on at the end, such as feathers,
pearls, glitter
- and finishing touches to the details.

Surface

Decoupage can be done on various surfaces:
- wood
- plastic
- glass
- metal
- ceramic
- even textiles ...

But each of these surfaces needs preparation!
Most importantly, objects must be clean and dry, with no dust, dirt, or grease (clean with alcohol). Textiles should be washed and dried without fabric softener. Primer / gesso is a white, acrylic-based product applied to an object before acrylic paint.

Acrylic Paints and Glue

Paint the object the napkins will be glued onto with acrylic paint, although you can also glue napkins directly onto an object if it is light in color. A special decoupage glue is used. Once dry, it becomes completely transparent, which is important because the napkins themselves are transparent and very delicate. After gluing on the napkins and letting the glue dry, you can also use acrylic paints to recolor details or disguise transitions and edges.

Finishing Varnish

For your decoupage-decorated items to last a long time, especially those you use every day, you need to seal them properly. Sometimes, in addition to acrylic-based products, products such as wax pastes or solvent-based products are also used, so consider which finishing varnish to apply:
- acrylic varnish for a piece made using only acrylic products
- solvent-based varnish for pieces made on various surfaces

How many of you do decoupage?