A great way to show your imagination and master a new decorative technique is to decoupage plates. An original and beautifully decorated plate does not have to be used for its intended purpose: it can be hung on the wall or on a stationary stand in the bedroom, kitchen or library as a decoration.
This product will be a wonderful handmade, “do-it-yourself” gift for friends and relatives.
In addition, this activity is not at all difficult, and even beginners can create an effective and original craft the first time. Today we will tell you how to make decoupage plates with your own hands at home and what is needed for this.
Types of decoupage
There are several ways to decorate plates, the choice of which depends on the material of the plate being decorated and the desired result.
The following varieties are distinguished:
- straight, also called classic;
- back;
- volume.
Let us consider in detail the algorithm for decoupage of plates of each of the listed types.
Master Class
- Direct decoupage differs in that the picture is glued directly to the surface of the plate. To create such a craft, you can use any utensils - glass, wood, ceramic, clay. Pictures can be decorated with special decoupage cards, three-layer napkins, and rice paper.
To decorate plates with napkins, take some old plate that is not particularly valuable to you (but not broken!), wash it with dishwashing detergent, dry it and degrease it with nail polish remover or alcohol.
Using a sponge, which you can make yourself from a clothespin and a piece of cotton wool, prime the inner surface with white acrylic artistic mass and leave until completely dry. You can use a hairdryer for this purpose.
After the primer has dried, go over the entire surface with sandpaper.
Choose the appropriate size design that you like. Most often, plates are decoupaged using napkins - in any store you can choose a pattern to suit every taste.
Tear off the excess edges of the napkin, separate the top colored layer and apply the motif to the surface. Then, using a brush, carefully coat the entire print with PVA glue from the middle to the edges. If air bubbles appear, carefully remove them using the same brush so as not to damage the material.
Try not to allow wrinkles to appear on the surface during the process, but even if this happens, you can get rid of them after the glue has dried by filing with sandpaper.
To create the background, use oil pastels. It should be applied in strokes using your fingers. Make sure that no brush bristles, accidentally fallen hairs, etc. remain on the composition.
Acrylic paints are suitable for finishing the edges of dishes. Apply them using a regular dishwashing sponge.
When the materials are completely dry, proceed to fixing with varnish. For this purpose, you can use either construction spray varnish or auto varnish. However, any product with a glossy effect that contains synthetic resins will do.
The varnish should be applied in layers, with each subsequent layer applied only when the previous one is completely dry. You shouldn’t fill the picture too much, as this may make it blurry. Well, in order to give the product an even more attractive look, apply bitumen wax to the surface. It is applied using a soft, lint-free cloth and thoroughly polished.
Advice . It is better to varnish the plate outdoors, for example, on a balcony, since intense vapors from the product can irritate the respiratory organs.
- Reverse decoupage plates are suitable for decorating glassware. Picture: napkin, colored or rice paper, glued to the back of the plate with the front side.
We offer you a master class on reverse decoupage of a glass plate with craquelure.
Buy a regular glass transparent plate, wash and degrease it.
To work, we will need a decoupage card or napkin with a print that matches the diameter of the plate.
Grease the bottom of the plate with a thin layer of PVA glue and place the print face down on the bottom of the plate. If you are using a decoupage card, you should first soak it in water for a few minutes and dry it on a towel.
Using a cotton swab, gently smooth the motif to remove any air bubbles. After the glue has dried, lightly sand the surface to smooth out the edges and remove any excess.
Treat the edge of the dish with craquelure - a one-component craquelure varnish. After it dries, this is about 20 minutes, cover the sides with water-based or acrylic paint of a suitable color. This must be done carefully, but very quickly, without applying one layer to another.
To make the pattern look more impressive, the bottom of the dish should also be painted. If you choose a light pattern, use dark paint; if it is dark, on the contrary, use white paint.
When the paint has dried, decorate the edges on the front side with paintings of your choice - these can be flowers, geometric shapes, images of fruits, berries, etc.
A decoupage plate with a photograph looks especially good. To do this, you will need a regular photo in printed form - color or black and white.
The master class on decoupage of a plate with a photograph using practical technology is no different from the previous one.
However, there are still some features:
- Before attaching the photo to the bottom of the dish, divide it into two layers. We'll need the one on top;
- There is no need to cover the front side of the photo card with glue, it looks ugly;
- if glue gets into the photo, carefully remove it with a soft cloth;
- The photo should take longer to dry than a regular napkin - at least one hour.
After gluing, the photo should also be varnished.
- Volumetric handmade on dishes involves the use of special paste or improvised materials - for example, crushed plastic, shells, cereals, etc.
We offer an option for decoupage using chicken egg shells.
Please note that the material must be completely dry and free of droppings.
Degrease the glass or plastic plate and dry it. Apply PVA glue to the surface from the inside and begin carefully gluing pieces of eggshell with the concave side up. When everything is dry, apply another layer of glue.
Since the beginning of time, people have enjoyed decorating their homes with beauty created with their own hands. By decorating your home with things that keep you warm, you can create a unique atmosphere of harmony and express yourself. In addition, handmade designer gifts created in a single copy are always highly valued. Handicrafts as a hobby are becoming increasingly widespread; decoupage of plates is one of its most spectacular and accessible areas. This is explained by the cheap cost of materials, ease of execution and excellent results. If you were looking for information on the topic of decoupaging plates with napkins for beginners, step by step, or want to find new ideas for inspiration, then this article is for you.
What is decoupage?
The literal translation of this word from French means “to cut.” The term “decoupage” is usually used to describe the technique of gluing a picture to an object, which is completed with a varnish coating.
This trend was born in Germany at the end of the 15th century; in this way, craftsmen decorated manufactured furniture. A century and a half later, a fashion for images in Japanese and Chinese styles developed, making decoupage even more popular. Since the mid-19th century, when printed pictures appeared on the mass market, decoupage has become a craze.
This fashion reached our country only at the beginning of this century, and the number of enthusiasts is only growing: they decorate furniture, clothes and shoes, household items and everything that can be decorated using this technique.
Types of decoupage
Decoupage can be done in different ways.
Straight
In this case, to make your own plates, an image or photo is placed on the front of the plate.
Back
The picture is placed on the back of the plate.
Important! Transparent dishes are best for this.
Materials for work
Decoupage is usually done with these materials.
With napkins
There are special napkins designed for decoupage, but regular paper napkins are also suitable - the only difference is in the method of gluing them.
With craquelure
To make graceful cracks appear on the surface of the plate, it is coated with paint of a special composition.
With eggshell
It is placed directly on or around the image.
With photo
The technique is the same as when using napkins, only the image is a printed photo.
Which plate is best for decoupage?
Not every plate is suitable for our purpose, because often the dishes have a relief or pattern. To decorate your plates yourself, opt for the simplest possible white porcelain plate with a smooth surface.
What is needed for decoupage?
The set of tools is determined by what technology you will work with. The basic kit looks like this:
- plate, since today we are looking at decoupage of plates;
Important! If you don’t have a smooth plate at hand, you can use sandpaper to remove the pattern from any other one.
- scissors - most often convenient for manicure;
- brushes, rollers, sponges;
- PVA or acrylic glue;
- alcohol;
- primer;
- acrylic paints;
- varnish - useful for final coating.
Important! Acrylic or polyurethane is suitable.
For the main picture, choose one of the following options:
- picture or photograph;
- craquelure;
- napkins - special for decoupage or regular paper ones.
Important! If the picture you choose is placed on thick paper, rub it on the back side until lumps appear - this will make it thinner.
To decorate your homemade decorative plates, use eggshells, beads, pieces of fabric, rhinestones and any other decorations that suit your taste.
Decoupage techniques
We present to your attention several decoupage techniques. Using them, you will be able to realize your most original creative ideas, and not only decorate your own home, but also prepare gifts for any holiday.
Direct decoupage with drawing:
Important! This method is used to make a decorative plate. If you want to use the dishes for their intended purpose, decoupage the plates with napkins using the following technique.
Reverse decoupage with drawing
It makes sense to do this method only on a transparent plate:
- Cut out the design and degrease the surface by wiping it with alcohol.
- Place the picture on the back of the plate.
- Do not coat the entire pattern with glue, but only its edges.
Important! Try not to hit the front of the plate.
- When the glue is completely dry, coat the product with varnish.
Plate decor with plastic beads and seed beads
By using this simple technique, you will be surprised how fun decorating your plates with your own hands can be:
- Grease the plate with refined sunflower oil.
- Distribute beads and seed beads on its surface.
- Place in the oven (200°) and wait until they are partially melted.
- Remove from oven. After the plate has cooled completely, fix the result with varnish.
Important! The beads must be plastic; others will not give the desired effect.
Decorating a plate with lace
To get a plate decorated with elegant lace, follow these simple steps:
- Saturate the lace with clear glue.
- Place on a plate and let dry.
- Trim off any excess fabric and finish the job by coating it with varnish.
Plate decor with three-dimensional figures
Another interesting way to make decoupage plates with your own hands:
- The necessary materials can be found in large quantities in the toy departments. Purchase a plaster figurine making kit and follow the instructions to make a figurine to decorate a plate.
- When the figure dries, coat it with emulsion paint.
- Glue the figure onto the plate and cover the work with varnish.
Important! To make the product especially colorful, paint the figures and the plate with paints before varnishing.
Decorating the plate with shells and starfish
Surely you have more than once brought shells, pebbles and starfish from the sea yourself or received them as gifts. These things are perfect for making decorative plates with your own hands:
- Degrease the surface with alcohol.
- Place existing decorations on the glue in the order you like best.
Important! For best results, the glue should be thick and transparent.
- When the glue is completely dry, coat the plate with varnish and enjoy this piece of the sea!
If you have dull and completely uninteresting dishes in your kitchen that you are bored with, you can easily turn them into something original and bright. To do this, we suggest you watch this video lesson and learn how to work using the decoupage technique on dishes.
Decoupage is a fairly common technique for decorating various surfaces. It is used not only on small objects, but also on large ones. For example, using this technique you can decorate home furniture or even a window.
In order to make decoupage on dishes, we will need:
- a glass decorative bottle that you want to decorate;
- three-layer white paper napkins;
- paper napkins with a pattern chosen for decoration;
- PVA glue;
- acrylic paints in brown, white and bronze colors;
- acrylic lacquer;
- small sharp scissors;
- brush;
- hair dryer to speed up the drying process.
We begin work by degreasing the glass surface of the bottle that we are going to decorate with alcohol. After this, we prepare the glass for the next processing. To do this, take one layer of white napkin, tear it into small pieces and glue it to the bottle with PVA glue. We do this over the entire surface and wait until it dries completely. As a result, the bottle should turn out slightly matte, and this is a sure sign that you did everything right.
Next, cover the entire surface with brown acrylic paint. After drying, apply a layer of crackle varnish. After an hour, apply white acrylic paint with a soft brush. The surface will be rough and an antique effect will appear.
Now, the most interesting thing is to select the elements you like from the drawing on a napkin and apply them to the surface of the bottle. Carefully cut out the necessary fragments with sharp scissors, do not forget to separate the top layer of the napkin from the two unnecessary ones. Glue the design to a certain place with special decoupage glue or PVA glue diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio.
After this, we make a rim on the neck of the bottle. Carefully paint it with bronze acrylic paint. Cover the entire surface with acrylic varnish.
In addition to this example, in the video lesson you will also learn several more interesting ways to decorate kitchen utensils and any household items.
Glass is a rather whimsical and demanding material. To make something truly beautiful and bright, you will need a lot of your imagination and patience. Get ready to make colorful things and create beautiful things!
You can transform old or ordinary objects into unique ones using various techniques, but one of the most popular and accessible is decoupage. Available materials and tools are used in the work. All you need “special” is paper or napkins. Below we will tell you how to master decoupage for beginners. You don't have to buy anything super expensive. Glue, napkins, varnish, brushes, scissors. That's the whole set of necessary tools.
Decoupage for beginners: collecting everything you need
First, let’s briefly talk about what you’ll have to work with and what you’ll have to work with. In general, decoupage is fastening on the basis of a material or paper with a printed pattern. To ensure that the design does not wear off longer, it is coated with several layers of varnish. Here is a brief description of the decoupage technique.
Decoupage is a technique that allows you to make something special out of ordinary things.
Base
Any weakly absorbent base is suitable as a base for decoupage. What can this technique be used on? On the following grounds:
As you can see, the list is substantial. Only very porous substrates with a lot of irregularities are not suitable for decoupage. And this way you can decorate everything: from dishes of any kind to furniture and doors (and you can use both the surface of the doors and glass inserts).
List of tools
You need a few tools:
Everything from tools. Unless you still need stationery - a ruler, a pencil, an eraser.
Consumables
Now we will talk about consumables. We won’t talk about napkins and paper here—they’re a separate item. In addition to them, to make decoupage with your own hands, you will need:
That's all that may be required, so although decoupage requires a financial investment for beginners, it is not very large.
Napkins, paper
For decoupage, napkins and paper with a printed pattern are used. They are glued to the surface and covered with varnish. There are the following types of materials for this type of decor:
In general, they also use special pastes to create three-dimensional images, ordinary photographs from which the bottom layer of paper has been removed, and other drawings. But it’s not easy to work with them, and this is not decoupage for beginners, but for those who are already developing their skills.
Napkin decoupage: techniques
The main idea of decoupage is to decorate a surface with an image or design. The process is creative and there are no concepts of “right” or “wrong”. The surfaces and patterns are different, so different techniques are used. You just need to choose the method that works best for you.
Decoupage bottles - a good start for beginners
The easiest way to start mastering decoupage is by gluing large fragments. When you learn how to glue napkins without folds, you can move on - master the methods of volumetric decoupage or using crackle varnish. In the meantime, let's figure out how to work with large fragments.
Preparatory work
First of all, you need to remember that napkin decoupage for beginners will have to start with preparing the base. It should be even, smooth, without holes, chips, or humps (except for those that are specially provided). To help - putty and sandpaper. After the surface is leveled, the workpiece is covered with primer (selected according to the type of material) and then coated with white paint.
The stage of applying white paint is mandatory. The fact is that the napkins are very thin, and when glued they become translucent. If they are glued to a white surface, the design remains bright. If the surface is colored or dark, it fades noticeably and there is no desired effect. Therefore, paint must be applied even to plastic or ceramics, and possibly in several layers.
What to do with a napkin
First you need to decide what type of napkin to use.
How to decide whether to tear the napkin or cut out elements from it? According to the size of the picture. If the fragments are large and have clearly defined boundaries, they are cut out. If the drawing is small, it will stick one next to the other, they will be torn. This will make it easier to match the edges.
Gluing methods
You can only choose how to glue napkins for decoupage through experience. First of all, we decide what exactly we will glue with. Can:
- Varnish.
- Special glue.
- PVA - diluted or not.
- Glue stick.
- Egg white.
Gluing to varnish is no worse than gluing to glue. But after drying, you can’t do anything - the napkins become almost monolithic with the product. If you don't like something, you won't have a chance to change it. That’s why beginners most often use PVA glue - it’s cheaper and easier to work with.
If you decide to use PVA, you will have to think (or try) to use it diluted or undiluted. Most often it is diluted with ordinary water in a 1:1 ratio. When using such an adhesive composition, you must be prepared for the fact that the napkin gets wet from the water, can be pulled in different directions, and can tear due to careless movements. In general, you need to adapt.
A glue stick is also a good option... if you can get all the bubbles and wrinkles out. This occurs normally on smooth, slippery surfaces. If the surface is rough, this is much more difficult. It is safe to work with egg white, but it is specific, so if you want it, you have to try it.
How and where to apply the adhesive
Beginners usually choose their first object for decoupage to be small in size. In principle, this is not bad. It’s just desirable that the shape be simpler: without a lot of bends.
If the decoration object is small, you can use a brush or fingers to apply the glue. Then use the same “tool” to level the napkin. Use a flat or straight brush - whichever is more convenient for you. Many people prefer to work with their fingers - you can feel all the folds.
When gluing napkins for decoupage, you can apply the glue to the object or to the napkin. They do this and that. When applying to a napkin, again, there are two techniques:
- The glue is applied evenly to the entire piece to be glued, applied to the base in the middle. Using movements from the middle to the edges, air bubbles are expelled and folds are straightened.
- A certain amount of glue is poured into the middle of the fragment. Next, the steps are the same: lay it on the base, smooth it out.
In the second technique, it can be easier to deal with bubbles and folds - with a large amount of semi-liquid glue it is easier.
What and how you do is not important. It is important that there are no wrinkles or bubbles
You can do the same if you spread glue on the base: make a small puddle in the place where you are going to glue the fragment, lay it down, and, lifting the edges, drive out the bubbles and smooth out the folds.
Decoupage of a flat surface: glue + iron
When decorating a flat surface, you can do it easier than driving bubbles through the entire napkin. Apply a layer of PVA glue to the primed surface or coat it with a glue stick. Spread well so that no “tracks” are formed. Let it dry. To speed up the process, you can take a hairdryer.
Place and level the napkin on the dry surface and smooth it with your hands. We place a piece of baking paper on it and begin to smooth it with a hot iron from the edge.
Decoupage for beginners - maybe try something like this?
As the glue heats up, it saturates the napkin. Usually it turns out quite smooth. When everything is glued, coat the top with more glue and let it dry. This is perhaps the easiest way to learn decoupage for beginners.
File+water and glue
Decoupage for beginners using a document file (choose thicker film), water and glue. This method is good if you will decorate with large drawings (cut out). Pour some clean water into the middle of the file and place the cut out fragment in it, face down. We carefully straighten it, expelling bubbles and straightening wrinkles. In a puddle of water this is not difficult.
When the fragment is straightened, lift the edges of the file and drain the water. The design remains stuck to the smooth film. In this state it is convenient to “try it on” and look for the best place for it.
Having found the area where you want to place the decoration, we apply the design on the film and begin to smooth it out. This is a very difficult moment. You need to ensure that at least one edge of the napkin sticks. After one of the edges of the image has been fixed, gradually smoothing and lifting the edge of the film little by little, we ensure that the napkin remains on the base. If you act gradually, gradually gluing the picture to the base, bubbles or folds will not appear. This method is suitable as decoupage for beginners.
When one edge sticks, everything is no longer difficult
The last step is to coat the stuck napkin with diluted PVA glue. After it dries, we apply a protective layer of varnish.
A few secrets
This cannot be called methods of gluing napkins for decoupage. These are little tricks and tricks that can help you get rid of creases faster or better.
- Before work, the cut out fragments are moistened with water from a spray bottle. The napkin stretches, but when it dries it no longer shrinks. If it has become very warped, it is ironed. Then use it as usual. Since the paper is already straightened, it hardly stretches anymore. Everything goes easier.
- Moisten the fragment with acrylic varnish in the form of an aerosol. In this case, the napkin will become rigid, it will not stretch or form folds. But varnished, it no longer allows glue to pass through, so we coat the surface with glue and glue the treated napkin onto it.
- Wet the napkin that is already lying on the base (dry) and only then coat it with glue. It's a little difficult to explain, watch the video.
We eliminate flaws
If the surface is decorated with small torn fragments, from which it is necessary to obtain a single whole, straighten the edges of the fragments with a brush or fingers. If there is color unevenness somewhere, dilute the paint of the desired shade and paint over the translucent base.
When the surface is no longer very wet, but has not yet dried, you can use thin brushes and acrylic paints to draw in the details, add brightness and clarity.
The next step is to decorate the edges of the product. There are different approaches here. In some places you have to trim the edges evenly, painting the sides, in others you can wrap the napkin on the back side and glue it there. In general, this is also a whole science.
Getting it to the finish line is an equally creative process.
After this, you can leave the product to dry. To speed up the process, you can use a hair dryer, but you need to keep it at a considerable distance, move it all the time and make sure that it dries evenly. If after drying you see that there is a fold on the glued napkin, you can still fix it. Take fine-grained sandpaper and sand it. We act gently so as not to damage the drawing around.
Varnishing
The dried product is coated with water-based acrylic varnish. You can use another one, but this one is considered the best. Apply one layer first, and after it dries, apply a second one. You can stop there, but if active use is expected (boxes, chairs, etc.) there may be more layers of varnish - three or four.
Photos of products using decoupage technique
Studying technology is not bad, but without knowing the possibilities, it is difficult to imagine what can be done and what can be expected. A few photos will help you decide what you can or want to do.
Decoupage can transform an old table into a new and very unusual one.
Stools are also an art object
This technique is called reverse decoupage - napkins are glued to the glass with the front side
In this master class with photos we will see how to decoupage plates with napkins. With this MK, even novice craftsmen will be able to master the technique of decoupage.
There are probably old unnecessary plates in every home. It would be a shame to throw them away, but I don’t want to keep them. I propose to give such a plate a second life and completely transform it. To do this you will need:
- beautiful napkin,
- PVA glue ,
- acrylic paint,
- varnish, brushes
- and the plate itself.
First, the plate must be washed well, dried and degreased with any means. Vodka, alcohol, glass detergent, acetone, and so on will do. Then we cover the surface of the plate with white acrylic paint. I do this using a dishwashing sponge. The plate must be well painted, so if necessary, apply several layers of paint with intermediate drying. You can speed up the drying process using an ordinary hair dryer.
While the plate dries, let's take care of the napkin.
We take out the motif we like from it. It will not be possible to glue the napkin entirely, since wrinkles will appear due to the unevenness of the plate. Then we separate the top layer on which the design is applied from the napkin.
We will glue the napkin using a file or notebook cover. To do this, place the napkin face down on the cover, pour water on top, smooth out the resulting wrinkles with a brush, expelling air bubbles from under the napkin. When the napkin is completely smoothed, place it along with the cover on the plate.
Then carefully remove the cover, leaving the smoothed motif on the plate.
Apply PVA glue half diluted with water over the drawing.
Dry with a hairdryer.
Apply the other parts of the pattern in a similar way, so as to completely cover the plate. We make sure that the napkin patterns are in harmony and match. Cover the plate with diluted glue and dry it with a hairdryer.
Blemishes can be filled in with pastels, eye shadow or acrylic paints. However, if you carefully stick the napkin, this will not be necessary.
Cover the plate with any varnish. Let's dry it. In principle, the plate already looks great.
But I decided to age it a little. For this I used two-step craquelure (sold in stores). It comes from different companies and is applied according to the instructions on the package.
In this case, thin cracks are formed, which are then rubbed out using an aging paste or oil paint. In this case, the cracks are painted in a characteristic color. Remove excess paste with a napkin. As a result, the surface of the plate is covered with a network of small cracks.
The edges of the plate were slightly shaded with brown acrylic paint. I varnished the top several times. The plate is ready.
Materials for decoupage can be purchased at discounts