A Beginners Guide to Decoupage

We’re so thrilled to be welcoming Decopatch to the Hochanda family that we wanted to share with you just some of the incredible affects you can create with Decoupage. 

What is Decoupage? 

The word decoupage comes from the French verb découper, 'to cut out'. The decoupage technique can be used to personalise items in your home - the best thing is that the designs can be as simple or as complex as you like. Simply, decoupage involves cutting out pictures, gluing them to an object and then coating the pictures and the object with layers of varnish.

Decoupage is a great craft, it’s super easy to do and you can pretty much decoupage anything; from a tired chest of draws to decorative letters, it’ll easily spruce up any item in a short space of time! 

Image Source: Wunderweib

Decoupage – the basic technique

Decoupage is a simple yet effective way of personalising your items, so before you begin here’s a step by step of the basic technique. Once you’ve nailed this, don’t be frightened to experiment with different mediums and textures! 

What you will need;

• Object to decorate
• Decorative papers
• Glue
• Brush
• Scissors (optional)

1. Start by choosing your decorative papers and either ripping or cutting them up. You can choose to keep your decoupage items nice and neat or you can add a more vintage feel to your project and rip your decorative papers. 
2. Spread a generous amount of glue onto the item to be decorated. Use the paintbrush to pick up and place your paper onto the surface.
3. Add more glue on top of the paper to fix it into position.
4. Smooth out any wrinkles and wipe away any excess glue with a barely damp sponge.
5. Continue adding a building layers of your decorative papers until the entire surface is covered. Then leave it to dry. 
6. If you require a smooth, glossy finish, once your paint is completely dry you can then coat your item with varnish. Depending on the desired finish you could use anything between 4 -15 coats of varnish. 

Image Source: ModPodgeRocksBlog

Did you know, we're also on Pinterest. Among other creative boards, you can be inspired before the shows by our Decoupage Pinterest board! 

Tune in to see Nikki Killinger's first Decopatch launch shows on Hochanda on Wednesday 27th July 11am and 6pm! 

You can watch Hochanda live online, Sky channel 663, Freeview 39 (6am - 9pm) or Freesat 817.