A Few Surprising Facts About the Decoupage Technique

Decoupage
comes from the French word découper, meaning “to 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
- effect pastes
- crackle varnishes that give an antique look
- small embellishments that can be glued on at the end, such as feathers,
pearls, glitter
- and paint for touching up the details.

Surfaces for Decoupage

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 painting it with 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 thin, translucent 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 Decoupage

For your decoupage-decorated items to last a long time, especially those you use every day, you need to seal them properly. Wax pastes or solvent-based products are sometimes used alongside acrylic-based ones, so choose your finishing varnish accordingly:
- acrylic varnish for a piece made using only acrylic products
- solvent-based varnish for pieces that combine different products

Have you tried decoupage yet?