Looking for a crafty activity, I spotted a découpage kit in the shop. Having never tried it before, it quickly ended up in my basket!
Reminding me a little bit like the technique of papier-mâché, découpage is just as straightforward, yet far more decorative.
In A Nutshell
Découpage involves gluing multiple layers of cut up coloured paper, (such as pieces of magazine or wrapping paper), onto an object. The glue is often a type of varnish to give it a polished look.
Additional decoration can be added such as gold leaf, or different effects with paint. The end result should look as though the object is varnished, and rather than the paper looking like it has been glued on, it should look more artistic.
Discovering Découpage
Paper crafts have been around for centuries, but the art of découpage apparently has origins with the Nomadic tribes in Eastern Siberia. They decorated tombs of the deceased with cut out felts.
This idea then reached China where in the 12th Century they were decorating items such as lanterns and boxes with cut up paper.
It’s likely that this practice made it’s way west through Italy in the 17th Century, as they had strong trade links with the Far East.
Celebrity Crafters
The Victorians were quite big fans of the craft and it was a hobby for many young women in that time.
There have also been a few famous fans of découpage. Marie Antionette, Lord Byron, and Pablo Picasso are said to have indulged in the creative past time.
The Kit
To try découpage, you don’t really need a kit, but as this was my first go I thought it would it much simpler to have everything provided.
I was going to be creating a cat, and the pack included the figure, varnish glue, brush and paper. Everything I needed. Puuurfect
The Découpage Make
The paper included in the kit was like a patterned tissue paper.
After cutting all of it up into small squares, I began the sticking.
There’s not a huge amount to say about it because it really was that straight forward. It was a nice craft to get into the flow of it, and switch off for a while.
Sticking To It
Some parts, such as where the leg met the body, were a little fiddlier to apply the paper to.
The varnish glue helped to guide and secure those trickier pieces into place.
I followed the direction of the picture, and used a different pattern on the ears and tail, and once I was happy with the covering I left it to dry.
Final Touches
When all of the layers on the cat had dried, there was only one thing left to do. I used a marker to carefully add some features. This is where it could all have gone wrong, but thankfully I didn’t slip up and gave it a lopsided expression!
The Result
It looked pretty good! I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with it, but I’m pleased with the results. It was fairly straightforward to do, although embellishments can be added and it can be more complex. For a quick and easy craft to try though, découpage
is a great one to give a go.
Want To Try It Yourself?
You can pick up kits on many high streets in arts stores or stationery shops, and there are plenty available online.
You don’t necessarily need a kit to have a go – find any object you want to decorate, and you can use cut up pieces of magazine, wrapping paper, or other patterned colourful paper to cover it.
There are plenty of tutorials from avid decoupagers on YouTube that can give you guidance on having a go.
Cost Of Experience
The découpage. kit I used was £6 and contained everything I needed to make the cat.
- The things you need to have a go at this are easy to get hold of and it should be a fairly cheap craft to have a go at.
If you already have all of the items, it could potentially be free for you to try!
Recommendations
Don’t wear your best clothes just in case you do get the glue on yourself.
Put newspaper down to protect your work surface.
Don’t forget to take a picture of your project!