How to decoupage with Mod Podge | How About Orange

August 14, 2008

How to decoupage with Mod Podge

This is a glass vase I decoupaged with pages from an old hymn book I found in the dumpster. Here's what I did if you want to give it a whirl.

1. Tear up some thinnish paper into pieces no bigger than 1-1/2 inches across. (The tighter the curve, the smaller the pieces you should use. If you're pasting paper onto something flat, you can use pieces as big as you want.)

2. Paint the back of the paper with Mod Podge (I used matte) and stick the paper onto your surface. Then paint more glue over the top of the paper and use your finger to smooth out the wrinkles. Cover the whole surface of your object, one piece of paper at a time. Let dry.

3. Paint on decorations with acrylic paint, or paste on some colorful paper shapes with more Mod Podge. I painted on this stripe at the top.

That's it!

59 comments:

Andrea said...

CUTE!

i love to decoupage!

feathermar said...

It looks great! Now I have to cover the next clear surface I see...

Jessica Jones said...

I hope you're not wearing glasses. :)

Bee said...

This is so cute. I have always wanted to know how to modge podge:)

Lunar Earth Mama said...

Very neat! What type of flowers are those in the vase, btw?

Anonymous said...

Mod Podge is my friend, I mean my middle name, Imean my day job! I love that stuff!

nichole said...

Fantastic. I love the black and white type with the orange. Brilliant.

Jessica Jones said...

I think the flowers are some kind of chrysanthemum. They smell like mums, anyhow. I got them at the grocery store. Any flower experts want to weigh in?

Grandma G said...

Yeah, they look like mums to me. Some type of spider mums, probably.

Mum :-)

Jen said...

Where did you get the curtains? I love them!

Glue and Glitter said...

Oh, it's lovely!

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for this post! i recently purchased over 5000 vintage french wine labels for a client of mine who is building a boutique winery and loves contemporary art. my plan is to decoupage the labels on to large pre-stretched canvas. not sure if we are going to organize the labels by color, region, vintage or what, but i am SO excited about the project. and after seeing this post i feel much more confident. thanks again!

Jessica Jones said...

I painted the curtains--see here.

Anonymous said...

i have been looking for a good tutorial for this because i'm too afraid to jump right in on my own. thanks so much for this! they looks great by the way :)

Jessica Jones said...

Melissa, you might also check out acrylic gel medium (Liquitex and Golden are two common brands). It MIGHT work a little better with canvas; not sure. I think it's probably higher quality stuff. It's thicker, so you might need to thin it with water. (You use the same technique of putting some on the back and the front of the paper.) It's what I've used with canvas before. (Like here. Get some of each and test it--worth it if you're doing that many.

Anonymous said...

"Tear up some thinnish paper"

I knew I saved those Norton Anthologies for all these years for something! I can't wait to try this.

Christine said...

Great tutorial! I've been saving "thinnish paper" from various sources in hopes that I would ONE DAY get myself to actually decoupage.

Bridget said...

Great idea, the vase came out really cute!

Anonymous said...

That is too cute!

jamieBEE said...

very cool idea!

Jessica @ Sunny Tuesday said...

That vase is so cute! I'm afraid if I start decoupaging it will turn into an addiction.

Anonymous said...

So you don't need to add a protective sealant, even with the paint?

It looks great. :)

Anonymous said...

I just had to share your tutorial with the readers of CraftStylish! (Click on my name to see my post.)

I used to love to decoupage -- I found it very relaxing.

Larissa Holland said...

I have an unopened bottle of Mod Podge on my craft table, glaring at me. Thanks for the overview!

Tracey said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I just told my little one that we are going to decoupage something, and now there are pictures to follow!

Blogger said...

That's funny, I just mod podged something today for the first time in my life...no instructions, just did it...I can't say it was the best time I have ever had in my life...but maybe next time I will try something pretty like yours...thanks!

Bella

charlotte said...

wonderful! ... I made one with tissue and cutouts for Amy's magazine at Inspire Co over here:

http://www.inspirecompany.com/matissevase.html

love that Mod Podge and paper.

Lynds said...

What a brilliant idea! Though I have to admit I don't have much for a collection of vases, many have fallen victim to run-through-shattering. You inspire me to go find some at a thrift store and give new life to though!

Anonymous said...

And the final result is just perfect! That's why I love Modge Podge, it's easy to use and we can do almost anything with it :D

Anonymous said...

hello Orange! can you teach me how to make ribbon please.....

i speak orange too!

RebeccaMom said...

I love it! What a great use for an old hymn book, the music is pretty. I have a secret love affair with mod podge, so I am always searching for new uses for it!

Serena Lewis said...

This is very effective! Well done ~

tina said...

Cool I definitely want to try this, though I doubt I'll end up with anything half as pretty as yours.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm.... you might just get me trying decoupage! I want to do the same thing to a mini dress form. Thanks so much for the tutorial!

Lotussooz said...

Oh I am soooooo going to do this tomorrow, I have some Japaneese newspaper that woudld be awesome!!! Thanks for showing us how to do it, Plain glass is so boring after all.

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

I've had a jar of this stuff on my work table for over a year now. Perhaps NOW I will finally be creatively motivated to crack it open!

Anonymous said...

I just mod podged my worksurface. It was very easy! I blogged about it - check it out!

Anonymous said...

Very nice! I love the green flowers in the vase too!

Jessica Jones said...

Nice work, Island Girl!

sara said...

Beautiful.

Petit Elefant said...

Oh how I love me some mod podge.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Ah, memories! I cannot tell you how many things I've covered with ModPodge in my youth. I even made a bedside bookcase out of an apple crate - covered it with cardboard and ModPodged color comic strips from the Sunday paper on it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
~Elaine~

Anonymous said...

hey jess! thanks for the additional tip for working with canvas. i will definitely try both options to see what works best... i will keep you posted!

Anonymous said...

Great Idea! I just found my bottle of Modge podge and couldn't think of a project for it so i got rid of it. Looks like it is time for a trip to the craft store.

Anonymous said...

OOOOO!! Nice idea! I haven't done this since I was in school! Goodness, brings back memories. Oh and I have an old music book i have just to cut up!! hmmm.... :)

dee said...

This is completely awesome!

Rely said...

oh !! very creative and pretty too!!
I love decoupage and collage!!!
Bye

Unknown said...

Oooh I love mod podge. I just decoupaged my bathroom vanity. Not a permanent fix, but fun and funky until we can afford to replace it.

Rosa said...

Fun! I'm going to have to give this a whirl.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the instructions on decoupage! I had the day off today and so had at the change jar in my bedroom. I think it turned out pretty good!

jessica said...

great tutorial.
lovely vase.
will definitely make one.

T i f f a n y said...

What a great idea! I've always wanted to learn how to do something like this. Thanks for the tips!

Anonymous said...

Do you think that the stuff you use to etch glass would eat through the paper if you wanted to do some kind of design like that?

Jana said...

Did you know you were featured on Threadbangers.com? I stumbled across that site and was cruising through it when I saw the featurette. I felt cool that I already knew about your blog and here it was featured. You rock!

Jessica Jones said...

Overabundance, I have my doubts. The chemical process would need to be different, I bet. You could always cut out your shapes with an X-acto knife before sticking the paper on. Hmmm.... that's a great idea...

Sarah Starr Alleman Smith said...

Lovely results. Way to save the Hymn book, good for you.

Anonymous said...

I must say that I am a decopauge addict! Great project!

Jessica Nichols said...

You inspired me to open my bottle of Mod Podge finally --- I was a 37-year-old Mod Podge virgin.

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Very cute! I love Mod Podge too & did a scrapbook project this week with it. Love your vase.