Hello Crafters! Today’s post was inspired by a question my sister in-law posted on Facebook. She was looking to cover an old table that my beautiful twin nieces use for crafts. The table has become scratched and stained so she wanted to breathe new life into it to extend its life. So down to the question, ‘What types of paper can be used for decoupage?’  Or decopatch if you prefer, i’ve heard both terms used and as far as I can see they both refer to the same thing . . . .

Decorating an object by applying pieces of paper using a glue medium. 

Decoupage was something I had never tried but I was familiar with paper mache and I figured I would try some different types of papers and report back to her. If you want to skip directly to my video post you can scroll to the bottom of the page or click here.

For my Decoupage three ways project I used the following supplies, mostly from Hobby Craft UK:

• Deco Paper – a paper that is sold specifically for decoupage
• Crepe Paper / tissue paper
• Spare wrapping paper
• Deco Patch brand brushes – these brushes are firm enough to smooth out the paper but soft enough not to rip the delicate papers.
• Mod Podge – Mod Podge is a water based sealer / glue and is comes in many finishes, I choose to use a gloss finish.

*Sparkle, Gloss, Matte, Outdoor & Fabric

If you do not have Mod Podge you can use a watered down PVA glue, 1/3 cup of water for every cup of glue works well. You can also create a glitter finish to your home made Mod Podge using fine glitter.

Next you will need something to decoupage, I decorated my distress ink holder and an old box. I really would encourage you to think outside the box with this check out these fabulous shoes, table and photo frame. Each one is linked to a blog post about decoupage.

So what did I find?

Well my favourite paper to use by far was the deco paper, no great surprise really as it is designed for decoupage. The paper was thin enough to easily tear, but sturdy enough to hold up to the moisture of the glue.

The wrapping paper worked really well but wasn’t quite as resilient with the moisture and so it did crinkle and crease quite a lot. Once the glue had dried the creases smoothed out almost perfectly. It was a great way to use some leftover wrapping paper that would have otherwise ended up in the bin.

The tissue paper surprised me actually, I wasn’t expecting it to work quite as well as it did. It was a little more difficult to apply and smooth out and due to the transparancy any pattern on the object below would show through. The tissue paper also leaves a pattern of light and dark shades where the layers overlap but I really liked the effect.

If you want to watch my video showing each of these methods just click below.  I hope you have found this useful and I really would encourage you to try decoupage for yourself using whatever materials you have at home.

Until next time,

Laura for Crafty not Shifty