Another fact of life - most of us have more time than money. I don't know about you but I can't simply replace a dresser, desk or nightstand etc. each time there's a sharpie incident. There are really only a few options. You can do your best to clean the piece and live with it's remaining condition (we usually run with this option until I simply can't look at it for one more minute, life is busy after all). You can sand, prime and paint (been there, done that, have that paint stained t-shirt) Or you can get creative with your re-do.
My daughter's dresser was a hot mess. She is a lovely girl but neat and tidy she is not. As I was feverishly using a magic eraser on the latest layer of "what the heck is that" I hit the outer limits of my tolerance and spilled into the "I can't take it anymore" zone. I had NO desire to paint the whole dresser, since it was really only her drawer fronts that were in need. Strip, sand and stain....ummmmm no, not this time. Glue and paper it is!! :) Yep, good old decoupage. Don't snicker, it's really quite versatile. So versatile in fact that in a span of three days I did her dresser, my older girls desk, a nightstand, the top of the family desk and two shelves. After posting pics several friends asked if I planned on blogging it so they could see a tutorial. Sure thing :)
To begin let's talk about glue/decoupage medium. I decided to experiment with a few different techniques so I could review them in this post.
1 - Mod Podge - By far the most well known decoupage medium. It is also the most expensive. Now I never go into a craft store without at least a 40% off coupon so it does reduce the cost quite a bit but even at that I spent $5.40 for a relatively small jar. The good news is that it goes a long way. Mod Podge also has a sealant mixed into it which is nice. This product (like all the decoupage mediums I tried) is non-toxic, which is nice. But let me tell you, non-toxic does NOT mean non smelly.....fair warning. I used this for my daughters dresser.
2 - Art Essentials Decoupage medium (michaels) - This option was about 33% less than the Mod Podge. It also has a mixed in sealant and similar promises on the label so I figured I would try it. This product was used on my older daughters desktop and drawers as well as the nightstand.
3 - White Glue and water (a.k.a homemade mod podge). By far the least expensive of the options. I tried both elmers white glue and kroger brand white glue. The elmers was 1.39 for 4 oz and the Kroger brand was .49 for 4 oz. The white glue is mixed 3 parts to one with water. There is no sealant and if you don't use one I have read that it will eventually yellow and crack. So why even bother you ask? Well some things need a top coat of polyurethane whether you use mod podge or not. This was the case with the technique I would be using for the family desktop so I figured there was no sense in spending the money on the mod podge. I found no significant difference in the workability or function of the elmers in comparison to the kroger brand. In the future I will just go with the cheaper store brand for polyurethane covered projects.
Next - what do you want to glue. Well obviously most any kind of paper at all can be decoupaged...wallpaper, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, pinter paper....you get the idea. You can also decoupage fabric and lace. Though I used torn pieces for each of my pieces, you can use one large piece for each surface. It is far easier and quicker.
For the first project I used a combination of book pages and colorful scrapbook paper. The book was a .25 yardsale purchase. It was old with a lovely yellowing to the edges of the paper, a perfect compliment to the dresser's existing base color. The scrapbook paper was on sale for .20 a sheet and I chose something that coordinated but with a nice pop of color. I did not take step by step pics of the dresser drawers but it was the same process as the desk drawers. The dresser drawers had more curves and corners but it went beautifully. Just be patient as you work your paper into those grooves.
Let's start with the desk drawer step by step.
Start by using a magic eraser to give a quick surface clean to your piece. For these we used the Art Essentials medium. You will also need a foam brush and the papers of your choosing. In addition to the leftover book pages from the dresser drawers my older daughters wanted vintage looking labels. We simply googled vintage and antique labels and printed them out on regular computer paper in varying sizes.
Start be applying some of the decoupage medium on to the drawer face. We started in corners and tried to be as random as possible with our placement.
Tearing the book pages gives a nice look. Press over the edges (which should also have glue on them) and smooth. For the corners you will want to fold it in like you are wrapping a package. make sure the underside of your page in that corner has glue on it and apply little dabs as you go to secure your fold. You can use your finger or a rigid plastic ( like an old gift card) to smooth out bubbles and wrinkles in your paper). This also helps to ensure that all the edges of your pieces are secured well.
Continue placing random pages and labels (or in the case of the dresser drawers, scrapbook paper) being sure to apply an ample coat of glue over the last piece so the overlapping piece sticks well.
Don't worry about overlap on the edges. We will cut those off later once the medium has dried. Just be sure the paper is secured well to the edge.
The only real rule is to make sure you cover the entire space. Once completely covered put a coat of decoupage medium over the entire surface.
This all worked very well and I liked using the Art Essentials but did notice it was a bit different than the mod podge. It was a bit thinner and allowed pieces to slip out of place when smoothing on occasion which was not the case with Mod Podge. Also, I noticed that because it was thinner the pages were more likely to tear on the corners. It just soaked the paper quicker. The mod podge made easy work of all the sharp areas on the dresser drawers. Something else worth mentioning - scrapbook paper was much thicker than the book pages and printed labels. It was most easily manipulated into the recesses of the drawer faces when I applied a thin coat of mod podge to the back of the paper piece before placing it. It softened them nicely without turning them to mush.
Allow to dry for about an hour and then trim the edges with a straight edge razor.
For the girls desk drawers, nightstand and desktop I did use a spray on top coat for extra durability simply because the desk is well used and abused ;)
I purchased triple thick, non yellowing sealant by rustoleum for $3.76 at Home Depot
This is an outside job (stinky). Line up your pieces and make an assembly line of it. I put two coats. It dries VERY fast.
The desk drawers were all done in the same manner as the dresser drawers, save for the last step. I did not use an additional sealant on the dresser drawers. The Mod Podge seems to dry with a better sealant coat to begin with. This makes Mod Podge worth the extra cost in my opinion.
Ok before finished project pics for that method ( art essentials decoupage medium) lets move on to the last technique I tried.
This was to cover the beat up top to the family desk in our living room. It is a faux stone technique. I knew I was going to put many layers of polyurethane on this one for durability so I went with the cheapest option....homemade decoupage medium. There is no sealant in this one. It is just a mixture of white glue and water. 3 Parts glue to one part water (I used a scale. Go team OCD ;) Stir until mixed and you're good to go. I used two bottles (.98 cents worth) of kroger brand white glue.
I cut new shelves for this desk while I was at it so I covered them as well. That is why some of the pics will show bare wood.
You will also need brown paper bags. Now you could use the brown paper bags you can use at the checkout instead of plastic as a totally free option, but I "splurged" and spent $1.39 on paper lunch bags because I figured the thinner paper would be easier to use. For both the shelves and desktop I used about 20 bags for a total cost of 55 cents. Since the polyurethane I used was leftover from our kitchen cabinet redo my total investment for this project was $1.53
To start, you want to rip up a bunch of bags into varying size pieces (avoiding the bag seams). Be as random as possible.
Then crumple them in your hands and roll in your palms to make a tight ball. Make a bunch so you can work quickly once you begin glueing.
Now open up and flatten the pieces. I know this seems counterproductive, but you want the wrinkles that are left for visual interest. The process then proceeds as with the other projects. Generous coating of glue on your wood (or whatever you are working on) .....flatten with rigid plastic card .....overhang edges.....wrap corner....more glue on top and in next spot....overlap next piece of paper....final coat of glue over entire surface.
Remember be as random as possible.
I did not wrap the edges when I did the desktop because the edge was in ok shape. I left it like this until dry and then came back with the straight edge razor as shown before to create a clean edge. When almost completely dry I used a small rolling pin to smooth out some of the raised wrinkles. No matter how hard I smoothed them while glueing some remained.
This is what it looked like almost dry with the edges cut. Cool right!!!???!???!
And these were the shelves once dry. The bare wood produced a slightly different look.
For the shelves I went over them with a little Bombay Mahogany stain I had left from another project so they would be an accent color.
When applying stain and polyurethane you will get some spots where they seep slightly under an edge or corner. I love that because it gives the look of a stone with its imperfections. Because you never know which areas will soak in differently its a truly random pattern :) ( ok so the type A in me has a hard time embracing what I can't control, but this was a good thing ...really :)
Once the top was dry I applied a coat of polyurethane and a let dry overnight (mainly because it was late lol)
The next morning I did something that might seem counterintuitive. I sanded the surface. Not just sanded for the next layer of stain. I sanded to smooth any remaining raised wrinkles. They were a tad stubborn when I tried smoothing them the night before. But once the first coat of poly dried they were very hard and easily knocked down with the sander. I used a 150 grit sandpaper on a palm sander but this could be done by hand as well. After this step, it was just two more coats of poly (it was a hot day and I had a fan blowing over the surface so it was only 45 minutes in between coats ) and it was done :)
Here are all the finished pieces.
Faux Stone Desktop done with homemade decoupage medium (you can still "see" wrinkles but the surface is actually completely smooth to the touch) I know people who have wooden countertops. They are very durable with several coats of polyurethane. This would work beautifully in that application and any desired color could be achieved with basic wood stain.
Faux stone desktop again
Desk Shelves. I had used some leftover stain which also has a polyurethane in it (polyshades by minwax) You will notice some streaking. This is a common and irritating issue with the two in one stains and poly's which is why we have never bought another one. I will live with it because it's just shelves that will be covered with various desk supplies like paper and books. But if this were a visible area I would have a used a separate stain and then applied the poly once dry. There would be no streaks that way. Just a note to save you some irritation if you try it with stain :)
Desktop and Drawers done with Art Essentials Decoupage Medium and Triple Thick clear coat sealant.
My daughters dresser redo done with Mod Podge Gloss. She originally wanted only book pages but agreed to pops of color on alternating drawer faces which is why only half of them have the scrapbook paper.
I hope you enjoyed the post :) Have a blessed night :)
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