Label Art Decoupage

Label Art Decoupage

An Imagination Station Activity

Age: Three and up
Time: An hour or more
Type of Activity: Arts and crafts

Materials needed:

• Sobo glue, elmers, or paste
  
• Labels, stamps, gift wrap images, old letters, newspapers, or thin cards
  
• Mod Podge
  
• 1" wide paint brush
  
• scissors
  
• dull knife
  
• object to cover like a small box, old hardbound book, canvas

Did you know... Decoupage comes from the French word, decouper, meaning to cut. Decoupage is any process of decorating surfaces in which paper cutouts made of new materials completely cover the surface. These cutouts are attached to the work by pasting or gluing.

Step One   Begin by saving and collecting labels and papers that appeal to you. Colorful labels from canned goods, sections of pretty gift wrap; paper doll pages from old magazines; cancelled postage stamps; maps, graphs, all are good candidates for this project. The imporatnt key is that these papers should be thin, not thick in texture.

Step Two   Choose an object that you want to cover. A piece of cardboard, a small box, an old book, or an artist's canvas are good for beginners.

Step Two   Paste the images, overlapping them and covering the surface of your object. Don't worry if the edges are ragged, have small holes, or tear.

Step Three   Keep layering and be sure to eliminate all the air bubbles as the paste dries (use a tongue depressor or flat edge of a dull knife for this).) When you are preparing your papers, tear the edges rather than cut to make a deckle border; it gives an appearance of age.

Step Four   Let the "decoupage" dry completely.

Step Five   With ModPodge brush the entire area; build up several layers. Voila! You now have an old fashioned cut and paste decoupage to give or keep.