Decoupage - A Fancy French Word for Glueing Pictures

I will decoupage damn near anything.  Several years ago we were given a family dining room set.  Lovely except for the fact that it was perpetually sticky from a previous owner's overzealous use of linseed oil.  Rather than stripping, sanding and resealing the thing (WAY a lot of work).  I decoupaged it.  "Food" was the theme and I used pages from old cookbooks and vintage food ads.  One of my favorite sources for old advertising - which I love and use often - is Reminisce magazine.  It's a fun magazine written by readers who send in memories from the 1920's through the 1960's.  There are lots of old photos and there is a whole page in every issue that is just old ads.  I have used pages of my favorite seed catalog, Shumways, to decoupage the entire inside of my kitchen pantry.  Almost any smooth surface can be decoupaged.  I have done walls, tea trays, TV trays, step stools, the outside of our refrigerator/entertainment center (see previous post).  It is done so easily and cheaply, mainly with things you already have.  So here's how to do it:  clip pictures from a book or magazine.  The paper should be thin and not say, cardstock.  Have at the ready a big bowl of water, a paintbrush, and a bottle of good old Elmer's glue (pour into a bowl).  Clean the surface to be decoupaged with a clean wet cloth and dry.  Have a good idea of where you want the pictures placed.  You may want to lay them out so you know exactly where you want them.  One at a time, soak the pictures in the water until they relax.  This may be hard to do because it's scary.  You think it might ruin the pictures you have so carefully selected and clipped.  It won't mess them up.  Trust me.  The first few times I tried this I didn't soak them or didn't soak them adequately, and my project didn't turn out.  Soak the pictures for a minute or so to really get them relaxed.  Then, gently pull them from the water, and place them on the surface.  Smooth it down with your wet fingers so you don't have any bubbles underneath.  Go over it with a coat of glue with your paintbrush.  Continue until all pictures are placed and glued.  Let it dry for a day or two.  To really seal your work, go over it with a coat of clear gloss polyurethane (available at any hardware store) and a foam brush (foam brushes are cheap and won't leave brush bristles behind).  If you are coating something that will be used daily, like my dining table, go over it several times in several days with the polyurethane, and don't be too disappointed if you eventually get some rips or bubbles.  You can always touch up later.  Have fun and share your pics!

The finished table