DIY: My First Decoupage Project

"The purpose of art," said Pablo Picasso, "is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." I used to think that art was complicated and only gifted people can produce a masterpiece. Approaching my mid-thirties has allowed me to appreciate traditional ways of doing things that don't necessarily motivate me to seek approval or popularity. At this age - being naturally drawn to a minimalist approach - I now often take time to escape the cult of productivity by reading, blogging, taking care of our small garden and most recently, engaging in DIY activities.

While browsing through Martha Stewart's website, I discovered all about decoupaging on its DIY & Crafts section. In a nutshell, "Decoupage is artistic sleight of hand. What appears to be a painted design is actually paper, glued in place. What looks like lacquer is just a few coats of clear varnish, and what begins as an unremarkable piece of furniture becomes a bold, modern design statement."

Instantly, I wanted to try this simple process of redesigning an object as I am quite fond of looking at vintage and shabby chic designs all over the internet. I never thought of myself as the creative type, but once in a while, I love doing old-fashioned things that keep me silent and busy.

When I was young, my parents bought a few furniture items made of Narra, and my mother fancied the idea of collecting antiques. One day, I found an old wooden closet door in her bedroom that she didn't want to throw away because it has a big mirror she can still use. That's when I thought of creating my very first decoupage piece. It was originally dark brown, so I decided to paint it with a light color to give it a fresh, new look.

This closet door was really just standing in the corner for years, dull and lifeless.

One only needs a pair of scissors and some standard white glue to begin this project, plus a bunch of pictures to decoupage with. These can come from newspapers, magazines, books, gift wrapper, greeting cards, fabric, lace, or in my case, paper napkins. I bought a set of garden-themed serviettes from Makati Supermarket in Alabang Town Center. I also used an old paint brush to spread the glue and stick the pictures neatly. My husband took care of buying the varnish and I told him to make sure it was colorless.

I also bought a set of serviettes filled with hearts from True Value, ATC.

A serviette is just a fancy British word for "table napkin."

As a preschool teacher, I have massive cutting skills!

My husband got involved in this project when I remembered that most table napkins are two-ply, hence, I needed his help to remove the other layer of each cutout before sticking the pictures onto the closet door.

Our son saw what we were doing and asked if he could try it as well.



Finally, when we were done, we applied a thin coat of clear varnish and let it try outside.

Lesson learned? Decoupaging is so simple, even a caveman can do it.

Go ahead and try it today!