decorative decoupage.

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I have always wanted to decoupage. When I was a kid home sick from school I would spend the day watching interior decorating shows and rearranging the plastic furniture in my Barbie dream home.  There are two things interior decorators often talk about, trompe-l'œil and decoupage.  I think they just really like to use foreign words.  Being a child and then later a poor college student, I never had much reason to actually try my hand at decoupage.

When we first moved to Miramar I found this lovely bottle in an op shop, selling for just fifty cents.  I agonised over purchasing it, I'm cheap like that, but eventually I gave in.  The labels on it didn't fit with the overall vintage style of the bottle and simply would not do.


I tracked down a label I fancied at The Graphics Fairy.   The image was a bit large, so I had to measure the size of my bottle and scale the image down in GIMP before printing it out.  I printed this image out at the library, but if you are printing at home you could achieve a more vintage look by staining your paper in tea or with coffee grounds prior to printing.


The assembled tools.  

In Wellington, the cheapest place to purchase Mod Podge is at the Warehouse Stationary ($13).  I used a bristle paint brush because it is what I had on hand, but a foam brush will yield the smoothest results.  

Begin by applying a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back of the label and stick it into place on your bottle or jar.  Set the bottle aside for at least an hour so the decoupage can dry.   If you are doing this project on a rainy day, you will want to allow for extra drying time.



Once the decoupage has completely dried, coat the top of the label with Mod Podge. You should go slightly over the edge of the label so the edges don't peel off.  If you get too much decoupage on the glass, just wipe it off with a damp cloth before it can be allowed to dry.  Don't worry about the glue clouding the image, it will dry clear.  Let the bottle dry for another hour and you are done! 



The finished product in its natural habitat!

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