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THE ART OF DECOUPAGE (découpage)
 
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Decoupage is an ‘artistic’ technique of decorating the surface of a piece of furniture, lantern, ceramics and many more. It past centuries, it often took the form of painting a picture on good quality paper, cutting it out and gluing it on the surface of the item to be decorated. Layers of varnish were then added, until the cutout was completely ‘fixed’ to the surface. A more modern technique is to printout a colour picture and then apply this to the surface of the item to be decorated.
 
Image ‘A’ below, shows a small container before the decoupage technique has been applied. Image ‘B’ shows the container after Art Deco pictures have been added.
 
 
 
 
BASIC STAGES
 
1. Draw or select a suitable picture / image. Cut it out accurately, with a pair of scissors or a craft knife.
 
 
 
2. Apply a thin coat of PVA / varnish to the surface. Spread out the PVA / varnish evenly, using a good quality brush.
   
3. Carefully position the picture, whilst the glue / varnish is still ‘wet’. It should be possible to move the picture, sliding it on the surface of the glue / varnish. However, position the picture as accurately as you can, trying to avoid having to slide the picture.
 
   
4. Allow the surface to dry. This may take at least an hour and depends on the type of glue / varnish used. It may mean leaving the work for twenty four hours.
   

5. Apply another coat of PVA / varnish and allow to dry.

The number of layers / coats depend on the quality of the glue / varnish. You will need to make your own judgement on this.

 
 
 
SAMPLE PRODUCTS ENHANCED THROUGH DECOUPAGE
 
 
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