How To Decoupage Your Decor by From Sarah, With Love

Today artist Sarah Oren of From Sarah, With Love is going to teach us how to decoupage our decor! Sarah creates fun picture frames, mirrors, jewelry boxes and more, and now she’s going to show everyone just how it’s done.

Not only does Sarah create these cool pieces of functional art, she’s also a talented filmmaker. Check out her How to be Green at Work video, which was featured on the homepage of YouTube for all of Earth Week 2009. Now onto the tutorial…

For your fancy-schmancy DIY decoupaged work of art, all you need to do is follow these simple steps!

You’ll need:
- acrylic paint
- sponge brush (two are ideal)
- unfinished piece of wood (sanded)
- old magazines and/or photographs
- Mod Podge

Step 1: Place on the table your unfinished wood piece (in this case, a light-switch plate). Pick any color or combo of colors. I chose purple, it’s calming and moderately simple to match.

Step 2: Paint a smooth coat of your desired color onto the unfinished wood, allowing at least a half hour between the first and second coat. Sometimes, the piece will require a third coat of paint, but that’s entirely up to you.

Step 3: Open any magazine you have lying around. Here’s where recycling comes into play! Cut out some fashionable and colorful images from the pages to use on your wood piece. Try to stick to images no larger than the palm of your hand for flexibility in adding it to the overall design.

Step 4: Pick a magazine or photo clipping you’d like to go on your painted wood piece. Then, on a small section of your piece, paint a thin layer of decoupage to act as adhesive for your clipping.

Step 5: Once the image is pressed down and smoothed out, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the image for a nice gloss.

Step 6: This step can be tricky if you don’t prepare ahead, but you can certainly improvise. To use a real pressed flower, simply press several flower petals in a book cover or between two hard, porous surfaces and allow the petal at least two weeks to dry out. If you want to improvise, just cut a pretty flower out of a catalog or from old, unwanted photographs.

Step 7: Once you have your flower picked out, spread a thin layer of Mod Podge to the wood piece to act as an adhesive for the applied flower.

Step 8: After your flower is applied, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the entire light-switch plate to give the project a finished look and feel. Here’s a closer look:

Congrats, you’re all done making your signature “From Sarah, With Love” piece! Now you have a funky and creative light-switch plate to show off to all your friends!

Thanks to Sarah for this fab tutorial! You can find more of her work at her Etsy shop, read her blog, or check out her videos on her website.

Tagged as: Etsy finds, home & decor, tutorials