#DIY - A Decoupaged terracotta pot for your balcony garden

 
Have you tried decoupage?
 
Well, here is a small terracotta pot, that I bought from the local road side seller for Rs.30!! Add to it some left-over paint, some varnish and a pretty picture and viola! 

Decoupage is the art of 'decorating something by gluing picture cut outs on to it in combination with paint'. Then the item is sealed with varnish or glue to create more of an inlaid look versus a pasted on look.

I discovered this last year and have not been able to stop since. You know how you can spend more time on Pinterest pinning and re-pinning than actually making any of those things.. Yes, just like that- I ended up staying up all night for a week ooh-aahing over the prettiest pictures and then I was possessed. I had to try it out. After a marathon of video tutorials and (really over) exceeding my Internet quota for that month, I decided to get my hands sticky. And I loved it. I definitely recommend this to anyone creatively inclined and definitely to anyone who is feeling down. Much therapeutic! 

To break it up into easy steps:

1. Wash your pot clean and let dry. While you're at it, smell that wet clay pot.. it's quite divine. :)

2. Sand to remove bumps. Make sure you have your floor covered in newspaper and try to work in a place where there is less breeze.

3. Repeat step 1. Let it dry completely. 24 hours?

4. The next thing I did was give the pot a couple of coats of varnish. More like a precaution to seal the pot and ensure water seepage does not ruin the paint work. You have to let each coat dry. Might take a few days in total.

5.  I had a few sample tins of cream paint (emulsion) left over in the store room from when we were painting our apartment, so I just used that. I guess you could use acrylic paint. Again multiple coats. I may have done 2 or 3. Both inside and outside. 

6. The decoupage. You could use any paper cut out. Magazine, greeting card, laser printout, fabric, paper napkin etc. This is part of a paper napkin I picked up at an exhibition in our neighbourhood. You will find a lot of fabulous tutorials on Youtube that will guide you through this process. Its take a little practice. But the results are totally worth it. Glue your picture in place. I used Fevicol.

7. Finally couple of coats of any matte finished varnish from the local hardware store and let it dry completely. Some experts even suggest letting it cure for around 3 weeks! 

Hope you will try it! 

I still have mine sitting (a year later) in the balcony with some succulents in it..
 


 

DIY Fabric Decoupage on a Terracotta Pot

How can you not love a vintage looking vase? Faded pink roses floating in cream. Dreamy, romantic and filled with an old world charm. And what better way than Decoupage to make that vintage dream come true.

I found these lovely terracotta vases at the local road side seller's. Usually he has cooking vessels and planters, so when I saw this I just could not resist picking it up.  

Supplies:

1. A Terracotta vase or pot

2. Sand paper

3. Acrylic paints

4. School glue

5. Pretty fabric pieces

6. Scissors

7. Wide foam Brush (or any artists brush will do)

8. Some patience. :) 

First step-Wash your vase or pot and get it completely dust free. Leave it in the sun to dry inside out (even if it takes a whole day). 

Next step would be to sand the vase. This will get rid of any minor bumps and give it a smooth finish. After sanding, wipe it down with a nice damp cloth to get remove any residue. If required wash and let dry one more day. (this is where patience comes in handy!). In my case, I did NOT sand it. I could not get my hands on sandpaper at that time, nor did I have enough patience. But I would recommend not skipping this step.

 

Now your vase is ready for painting. I did not use any primers or sealers. I was looking for a pale cream shade with a sheen. So I mixed Pearl White and a few drops of Gold to get my final shade. Your painting will be smoother and without brush stroke marks if you use a wide foam brush. I let it dry over night after one coat and gave it another before I got to decoupaging. 

After one coat of paint

I had some pretty fabric lying around and snipped out some roses from that. The roses were too bright so I ended up using the wrong side of the fabric as I was going for a more faded vintage look.After deciding on the placement, I applied glue with a foam brush. And pasted the fabric on. The Serrano Wrap method from patioelf helped me get it on without wrinkles. All you have to do is take a large enough piece of Serrano Wrap and stretch it over the decoupaged piece to help push out air bubbles and any wrinkles.

After letting it dry completely, I applied another coat of glue. 

The roses still seemed a bit bright and pasted on, so while applying my top coat, I sneaked in 2 drops of pearl white paint into my glue and then applied it all over. This allowed the roses to merge on to the vase a little more.  And the sheen from the paint showed up a little on the decoupage too.

I think it looks quite dreamy and romantic. 
What say you?

DIY Decoupage Canvas Art

Here is a very simple decoupage project that anyone can try at home. 

All you need is:
1. A canvas
2. Pretty paper napkin or any decoupage paper.
3. White school Glue
4. A Foam brush

First cut out the picture you want to decoupage. Do not separate the sheets of your napkin before cutting. It becomes too flimsy and will tear. 

After deciding where the image should go, make very light markings on the canvas so you know where to apply glue.

You can use either a  foam brush or an artists brush to apply glue.

Separate the sheets of your paper napkin and then carefully place the picture and stick into position. Patioelf suggests using Serrano wrap to always smooth out wrinkles which I have tried earlier on other projects but not for this one.

I did end up getting a few wrinkles, but I felt it kind of added depth to this particular piece. 

After it dries, if you feel it has not adhered properly, add one more coat of glue.

Let it dry and then add a top coat. Where I live I don't have access to modge podge of any type. So my top coat was also school glue.

The sides of my canvas was 1 inch thick. And let the image spill over to the sides - again for some depth.

I loved how it turned out.. So even if you cannot paint like Van Gogh, don't worry you can always use decoupaged canvas art to pretty up your walls! 

DIY Decoupage - Little Pink Box

If there ever was a purpose for printed and especially ‘floral’ printed paper napkins it would be decoupage and nothing else. OK maybe to pretty up your tablescape for a photoshoot but for NOTHING ELSE. How on earth can anyone with even an ounce of sense ever wipe their face or mouth (that has gravy on it) with those gorgeous things and then crumple it and then throw it away? It would be a crime! 

Decoupage even sounds romantic. Just like anything French. Sigh…And its not even as difficult as Fine French cuisine. Easy and simple and your decoupaged product will still end up looking fine, French and lovely.

Here is my first attempt on a decoupage project. 

The paper napkin:

Here is the a little cardboard box I decoupaged. This is for my daughter to store her teeny- tiny hair clips. 

Most of the tips I picked up have been through YouTube videos from patioelf. She makes some mean stuff. Love her tips and techniques.

Can't wait to make some more stuff!!