Christmas Ornament Decoupage

Dare I say the word? Tutorial.
There. I did.

I dedicate this crafty post to my lovely friend Kirsty from you had me at bonjour. I have not a single crafty bone in my body so when you see these découpage angels and ornaments you should believe that you could do it too.

The Littlest did it nearly all on his own. And look how pretty they turned out.

my angels; Ma Fille, Littlest & Middlest

I've wanted to try my hand at découpage since seeing all the choices of form and paper at the garden store.

Garden stores in France are like mini-Michael's. They have much, much more than plants and soil. You can find cute home stuff, gift items, animal supplies, birds, fish and fun craft project ideas.

I found these angels in a pack of three; one for each of mine. I bought a selection of red and gold toned papers made specially for decoupaging...this is my way of Englishafying a French word and I do it all the time....and the special découpage glue that goes on white but dries shiny and clear.

Here's to the tutorial piece. Don't freak out, I know it's not like me to get all detailed and organized on you and it's quite beyond my capability to do so so don't expect much.

Materials:

cardboard or wood form for covering (angels, stars, baubles, reindeer, penguins)

multiple sheets of découpage paper--try to pick some across the color wheel and in different patterns so it's not too matchy

special découpage glue; I used the 'Decopatch' brand seen here:

 

small and medium sized brushes, one is specifically for découpage and the other is just a watercolor brush

First, you tear your paper into strips and pieces. The size of the pieces depends on what you're covering but as you're probably not doing an end table you can go pretty small. The kids loved this part as much as the gluing.

torn paper, glue and wooden forms

It's simply a matter of gluing the small pieces of paper onto the form with a brush. You can even use your fingers as Mom did when working on the edges.You lay one piece on, glue it down and then add another, layering until you've completely covered the brown paper or wood form. 

It is such peaceful work. I don't know if I'm going loo-la or what but it makes me feel all zen. 

And it comes out so incredibly pretty and varied. Just like something I'd spend good money on at the home stuff section of the garden store.

We made the angels for our tree and there they proudly hang. 

It turned out so well that I had to do more. 

I thought it would be cute to make ornament invitations for Ma Fille's Fete de Noel so we did that today. We chose balls and stars and this time they were wooden rather than cardboard like the angels. This is probably way too OTT for the French but I couldn't help myself. I want her to have a special party.

Here's us working on the invitation ornaments:

bauble

star

And here they are all ready for the envelopes.

aren't they so pretty?

 As to that end table.....I'm thinking of trying it. We have an old one that's knocking around that would look trés chic covered in cream and turquoise paper and shiny glue.

Cheers Kirsty!