Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Decoupage Your Home
Fransie Snyman

Search Press
23 June 2017/ ISBN 9781782215769
How-To Books/Papercraft

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

 

Upcycle all kinds of old and ordinary items with decoupage and give your home a facelift! Whatever your style, there is a paper for it, and a method of adding it to almost everything you can think of, from wood to candles. I tend to associate decoupage with a vintage look, but this book shows how you can make it look modern just by choosing the right papers and the right object. I also imagined it to involve a lot of time and skill, having read an old book suggesting that twenty coats of varnish is not too much…But fortunately there are many modern products now that make it a breeze.

The book starts by looking at some of these products, and describing what can be decoupaged and how, with useful instructions on techniques such as painting, distressing and cutting out. The rest of the book is filled with projects, and these serve as suggestions rather than the type where you can buy everything and reproduce it exactly. They are organized into rooms – e.g. kitchen, living room, outdoors etc, and the author describes how you can comb attics, junk shops and markets for old things and do them up. A travel trunk is covered with map paper and becomes a coffee table, old tins are painted and decorated to brighten a kitchen, and old trays are brought to new life. New things can be made over too: plain candles are covered with pretty floral napkins, a plastic box becomes a fun toybox, and blanks of all kinds from craft stores are turned into useful decorations and containers.

Each project starts by briefly describing the item being upcycled and a list of what you need, then the instructions follow. These are words only, but this is a simple enough method, mostly consisting of preparing, painting and using a medium like Mod Podge to attach the papers. There are also galleries of items showing what else can be done to further inspire. I was pleasantly surprised how fun and easy it all seems to be, and getting hold of the few items required is not difficult. The book was originally published in South Africa, so everything is not available elsewhere, but there are many alternatives to paper, adhesives etc and some are given. A user friendly book on an old method which has been updated for the modern crafter.

If you cannot find a good range of decoupage materials locally try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.


 

 

If you cannot find a good range of decoupage materials locally try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.


UK Reviewer: Rachel Hyde's work can be found in The Bead Magazine, Making Jewellery and www.craftsuprint.com/rachel-a-hyde/
Reviewed 2017
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