DIY Decoupage

Last month at a local vintage market, I came across an antique dress form. I knew right away it was perfect for a DIY decoupage project.

The fabric on the vintage dress form was a brownish ugly tweed. It had some stains.

In my mind, I picture this great piece of DIY Decoupage art sitting in my craft room. This ole gal was getting an overdue makeover.

With a paint brush in hand, I painted a coat of Fusion Mineral Paint in Casement over the fabric.

To cover the ugly brown fabric, it took two coats of paint. If you use Fusion Mineral Paint it dries very quick. Fusion Mineral Paint is dry to the touch within 2 hours.

You should wait at least 4 hours between the coats before recoating. What I like about this paint is it a built in top coat which dries to a nice matte finish.

Keep in mind if you do distress an item after using Fusion Mineral Paint, you will need to add a wax, hemp oil or top coat to properly seal it. By distressing, you break down the top coat that projects the piece.

I allowed the paint to cure a week before starting the DIY decoupage portion of the project.

With a flat brush or 1″ foam brush begin brushing your decoupage gel in generously in small sections. I am using Redesign with Prima Decoupage Gel. It is a durable decoupage gel and can be used on furniture.

Next lay the tissue paper image that you torn over the gel. The decoupage tissue paper selected for my project is called Queen Bee. You can tear and/or cut designs out of the tissue paper.

Apply another generous layer of gel over the tissue. Be careful not to tear your tissue paper. I found that using my finger help to smooth out any air bubbles. The gel will dry clear, so do not be afraid of being generous with it as it will get sticky. Periodically, I had to wash my hands and start again.

It is best to work in small sections at a time because the decoupage gel does dries quickly. For this DIY decoupage project, you should apply layers that over lap. That’s what makes the art piece so unique looking.

The words sections were easy. You will want to lay them down first. I would hold up my large piece to get an idea of how many words and designs to fill in a section before adding the larger design.

Here you can see the sides and back complete. It is perfectly fine to have some wrinkles. It adds to the texture to your artwork.

While the decoupage gel was drying, I used Fusion Mineral Paint in Coal Black to paint the metal rod. It was blue and rusty. One coat did the trick to brighten up the metal and make it look refresh.

Let the project completely dry 24 hours. This black and white plaid bib apron with a pocket is perfect for the bottom section of the dress form. The bib was folded down and the apron tied around the bottom of the dress form.

Next, fun embellishments were added such as a turquoise bead necklace with a Dragonfly pin. Now I have place to storage a few of my brushes and have a fun piece of artwork with this DIY decoupage project.

I decided the perfect name for her is Rosaleigh! Isn’t she pretty?

Hope you like this fun project. She is displayed as artwork in my craft room. It is so much fun to have something fun and unique in my special creative space.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The opinions here are all my own. It helps me to continue to bring to you DIY and projects on my blog.

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Furniture Refresh With Chalk Paint – See the before and after photos.

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Hope you have a great day, friend!