Thursday, April 30, 2009

Decoupaged Digits

That's right people. I am putting the swagger back into decoupage with a simple piece of art that you can do right at home. and for CHEAP. Just take a look at my finished result:


Let's say you have a frame that you want to feature a little gender neutral, totally personal, yet still hip work of fantasticalness. And the place you wanna feature this soon-to-be-hotter-than-a-jalapeno frame is not really appropriate for a blownup picture of you in your tankini in Cancun. (Pixels are not my cellulite's friend). SOooo, what's a girl to do?

Decoupage : The ancient art of gluing.

That's right. And the best part about our favorite glue-filled activity (while keeping your nose clean anyway) is that most of the supplies can be found in your home! Here's what you need to get your decoupage on:


Glue
Water
Scissors
Paper (or magazines or photos or whatev)
Something to stick your cutouts to (in my case, a piece of foamboard)
Paint, glitter, a pinch of love (optional)
Brush (or sponge or fingers)

First, cut out whatever little doodad you wanna paste down. Let's say you are making a Britney montage. Cut out a pink wig, a sign of Cedars Sinai, a microphone, a Cheetos logo, and a chubby Kev-dogg. Also include a picture of fireworks...cause you know, like a firecracker she makes it hot.


Personally, I chose some numbers that were near and dear to my heart. 1435. I printed them out in Word. And went to town with my nearest scalpel. Just call me Meredith Grey.


Then I mixed some water, elmer's glue, and some yellow paint. I added water till I got at the consistency I wanted...and brushed it all over the foam board...then laid the cutouts on top and gave it another good wiping or two. Pretend you are Nicole Kidman...on the beach...spread generously. The key to making the "old" look is to vary the colors...a little more brown in one wipe, a little more white in another.


The best part is that this piece of art incorporates some other existing art in my room! And you can personalize yours to do the same. In our kitchen was a yellow sea fan...but it was all by its lonesome in the hue department. Bringing in another piece of sunshine was just the ticket to make the yellow really pop. Plus, the frames in the kitchen hide outlets...no more wall acne!

Wanna get some digits? Cause you know you are lovin the numbered fun...Here is some inspiration.


So how bout you? Do you decou? What have you glued lately? Got digits in the house? And if you were to do this art, what numbers would you choose and why? Would they be your birthday - cause of the personal historic significance? or maybe your name is Jenny and you like 8675309 :) I think I just aged ten years.

15 comments:

Freckles Chick said...

:: bowing down to the decoupage diva::

I'm loving all your DIY art projects!

Would it be weird if I framed 9-0-2-1-0?

slip4 said...

A shy lurker coming out of the shadows here...love your blog and sense of humor. Before Easter, I took some plain wooden eggs, painted them spring green and decoupaged butterflies on them and nestled them in some brown grass (I used my shredder on some brown kraft paper that was used as stuffing for a package!). They ended up looking really cute. Love the numbers tho! Might try my house number, 12521.

Katie said...

Nice palindrome Slip4! Sounds like a good balanced piece! And freckles - I think it would be ridiculously cool to put a little Beverly Hills in your home...seriously. I was thisclose to doing the mysteriously numbers from Lost. Then I remembered that I don't know what they mean...

XO - Katie

Carry Grace said...

I have done my share of decoupage and have never thought of adding paint to it! Bower- you have the Power!

www.girlmeetshome.blogspot.com said...

Question for ya! Where do you get your white frames? Are they all from the same place, and do you buy them in bulk (ha)? Love the project!!!

Dusty @AllThingsG+D said...

Nice project Katie--it turned out great!

Heather (Laptops to Lullabies) said...

I really like this! I think I'm going to try it with letters. Thanks for the tip, Katie!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

This is an awesome idea, I love it! I'll be linking to this if you don't mind!

Karin said...

Cool idea! I have a question...I was inspired by your dresser that you made darker with polystain. I gave it a try on a drawer face to see how it looked. Looks good but the problem is it still smells like stain if you get within about 5 feet. Did you have any problems or is it just moi?

Mrs. 5C said...

ooo I like it! I may just have to try that! :)

Mary Beth said...

What a wonderful project. I can't wait to try it.

I saw the Nellie dryer balls on your side bar-I purchased those a week ago at Aldi's for $6.99 and they have cut down drying time and the clothes are less wrinkled. So far, I really like them. : )

Ashley H. said...

I haven't decoupaged anything in years, but that totally made me want to get back into it.

Great job!

Lindsay said...

90210! lol fc!
katie-great project!!

michelle@Everyday Celebrating said...

loving this!!! would be cute to do with an anniversary date or baby's birthday, etc.

Marissa said...

So cute! This might be a dumb question, but what type of paint did you use? Does it need to be water based? I can't wait to try this. I'm with Michelle on the anniversary date idea.