May this Christmas...

May this Christmas be full of...

Advent Angels for the first anniversary of Decorattic blog

Is it possible? Advent? Already... ?
And if it is the beginning of Advent, there is also an anniversary of Decorattic blog! For this special occassion I have something different than decoupage :). I hope you like my clay angels. Although I'm not going to give up my decoupage passion, the affair with sculpting was too tempting to resist it :).
All Angels will be on sale on Ebay very soon, as well as other items made here, in my little Decorattic studio.
Thank you all for being with me, following my blog, all your comments and e-mails.
Warm regards from Dorset!

Decoupage on glass

There is a game I really like. It's called Word Associations... Shall we have a go?
Well, it's autumn... So, autumn - harvest - trees - apples - cider - bottle - glass - decoupage :)
When we finished that delicious cider, I had no doubt the bottle was too pretty to throw it away.
And when spread all my paints and materials on the table, I've notice another bottle standing on the cupboard. It wasn't even empty, but its shape was so nice and I decorated it as well. After puting two coats of varnish, I've done a top up with olive oil and put it back on the shelf.
The cider bottle has been still waiting for the right usage idea.
It is a good fun with decu on the glass. How many pretty bottles or jars are in your kitchen?
You can easly turn them into something unique. Enjoy your autumn associations then :)

Before:

After:

Retro tea box

I have to say I cannot resist that special "retro" charm of old wooden boxes. But flea markets are not the only way to get them. There is so much more fun if you create your own and decorate it with your favourite motif, lettering or whatever you want. You can also add a hint of shabby chic to make it look even more retro :)

RETRO TEA BOX - MY TUTORIAL

MATERIALS:
- wooden box
- decoupage paper or tissue napkins
- decoupage glue
- acrylic paints
- water based varnish
- dye for wood (or just acrylic paint)
- sand paper fine
- a candle

INSTRUCTION:
1. Sand the box and remove dust carefully
2. Paint the main part of the box with dye. Remeber to protect the surface you work on as dye stains everything around. One coat should be enough. Let it dry for about half an hour.
3. Paint the lid with white acrylic paint. Let dry.
4. Paint edges of the lid in brown and when dry apply a bit of wax from the candle.
5. Apply another coat of white paint and let dry again.
6. Glue your motif and let dry.
7. Rub the edges in a few places with sanding paper to achieve some shabby-chic effect. Don't do it in too many places.
5. Paint some background that goes with your theme or add some shading to create depth of your picture. Let dry.
6. Apply several coats of varnish.
TIP: To achieve some antique effect add a drop of brown paint to the varnish.

Stop the clock with decoupage :)

Clocks are on the top of my favourite decoupage items list. The surface is usually flat so it's easy to work on it. Also, there is actually nothing to limit you in choosing style or motifs: you need clocks everywhere: in the kitchen, bedroom or children's room.
Your friends need them too :) So hand-decorated clock would be a great gift idea!
There are some clocks I've made recently. I used decoupage paper and printed tissue napkins.
Time flies - but with decoupage you can stop it for a moment :)

Decoupaged furniture - a trunk again...

I decorated it thinking of my future living room and its light whites... Well, it seems I'll need to make another piece as I sold this one on the craft show.
But at the moment I think I need some break from my trunks, so this one is going to be the last... For now of course :)

Decoupage - a new life of chest of drawers

I guess many people own some old pieces of furniture that look plain but cannot afford to buy something brand new. I was fed up with my pine chest of drawers. I wanted to leave it in front of the house and let somebody take it. But I've found another solution. It took me two hours to create a new piece of furniture. My daughter loves it, my friends as well. Decoupage is a great way to give a new life to old furniture and household items.

Before:

After:

Thanks :)

I'd like to say thank you so much to all my friends visited us during the craft fair :) Also, I'm so pleased of great people I've met there. I hope to see you again shortly. A special warmest regards to Clare, Carey and Mike, Nikki, Megan and Patricia. Thanks for your support and your company!

Craft Fair in Dorset - hope to see you there!

Easter wishes

Easter eggs

"The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings"
/Joyce Kilmer/

Not many Easter decorations this year... But how to stay indoor when the weather is so lovely?
I've only managed to decoupage some wooden eggs. The rest of them will need to wait to the next Easter I'm afraid...

Children's furniture; another decoupaged trunk

Do you like teddies? I do. They help me to cheer my daughter up when she's sad. Also, she loves to fall asleep and cuddle up to her favourite teddy.
I was delighted when found decoupage paper with this motif. It took me a while to finish this project; especially lettering was quite challenging (I can't work with artificial light, but had no time to do it during a day).

Decoupage with napkins - jars of herbs and spices

I love herbs and spices in my kitchen, but hate the fact that opened bags and packets make such a mess in a cabinet. So this set of jars caugh my eye in my favourite charity shop. To give them a better look I used napkins with herbal motif and green and white acrylic paint. A bit of shabby chic on the edges gives the shelf some cottage style.

Before:

And after:

Decoupage with crackle effect

Another wooden peg rack. This time I used a two-part crackle glaze that imitates old cracked varnish. To make the cracks more visible I filled them with a special powder called porporina.





I decorated this wooden box for my friend Nicholas. Hope it will remind him his last year's pilgrimage from England to Rome - 2000 km on foot in 79 days. Wow, this was something, wasn't it?
I used: decoupage paper in one piece, decoupage glue, acrylic paints and varnish.
.

With a hint of shabby chic

This time something in romantic, cottage style. Shabby chic almost always goes well with flowery motif, especially roses :)
To decorate this wooden rack I used: acrylic paints, candle, decoupage paper and acrylic varnish.

Children's treasure trunk; decoupage

Too big mess in your child's room? There is a way to deal with it! This wooden trunk is spacious enough :)
It was a challenge to make it within two evenings, as I had to put about 10-12 coats of varnish.
The trunk is made from solid pine wood, sturdy enough to stand on it.