Direct decoupage of plates. Valuable advice

Since the beginning of time, people have enjoyed decorating their homes with beauty created with their own hands. By decorating your home with things that keep you warm, you can create a unique atmosphere of harmony and express yourself. In addition, handmade designer gifts created in a single copy are always highly valued. Handicrafts as a hobby are becoming increasingly widespread; decoupage of plates is one of its most spectacular and accessible areas. This is explained by the cheap cost of materials, ease of execution and excellent results. If you were looking for information on the topic of decoupaging plates with napkins for beginners, step by step, or want to find new ideas for inspiration, then this article is for you.

What is decoupage?

The literal translation of this word from French means “to cut.” The term “decoupage” is usually used to describe the technique of gluing a picture to an object, which is completed with a varnish coating.

This trend was born in Germany at the end of the 15th century; in this way, craftsmen decorated manufactured furniture. A century and a half later, a fashion for images in Japanese and Chinese styles developed, making decoupage even more popular. Since the mid-19th century, when printed pictures appeared on the mass market, decoupage has become a craze.

This fashion reached our country only at the beginning of this century, and the number of enthusiasts is only growing: they decorate furniture, clothes and shoes, household items and everything that can be decorated using this technique.

Types of decoupage

Decoupage can be done in different ways.

Straight

In this case, to make your own plates, an image or photo is placed on the front of the plate.

Back

The picture is placed on the back of the plate.

Important! Transparent dishes are best for this.

Materials for work

Decoupage is usually done with these materials.

With napkins

There are special napkins designed for decoupage, but regular paper napkins are also suitable - the only difference is in the method of gluing them.

With craquelure

To make graceful cracks appear on the surface of the plate, it is coated with paint of a special composition.

With eggshell

It is placed directly on or around the image.

With photo

The technique is the same as when using napkins, only the image is a printed photo.

Which plate is best for decoupage?

Not every plate is suitable for our purpose, because often the dishes have a relief or pattern. To decorate your plates yourself, opt for the simplest possible white porcelain plate with a smooth surface.

What is needed for decoupage?

The set of tools is determined by what technology you will work with. The basic kit looks like this:

• plate, since today we are looking at decoupage of plates;

Important! If you don’t have a smooth plate at hand, you can use sandpaper to remove the pattern from any other one.

• scissors - most often convenient for manicure;
• brushes, rollers, sponges;
• PVA or acrylic glue;
• alcohol;
• primer;
• acrylic paints;
• varnish - useful for final coating.

Important! Acrylic or polyurethane is suitable.

For the main picture, choose one of the following options:

• picture or photograph;
• craquelure;
• napkins - special for decoupage or regular paper ones.

Important! If the picture you choose is placed on thick paper, rub it on the back side until lumps appear - this will make it thinner.

To decorate your homemade decorative plates, use eggshells, beads, pieces of fabric, rhinestones and any other decorations that suit your taste.

Decoupage techniques

We present to your attention several decoupage techniques. Using them, you will be able to realize your most original creative ideas, and not only decorate your own home, but also prepare gifts for any holiday.

Direct decoupage with drawing:

Important! This method is used to make a decorative plate. If you want to use the dishes for their intended purpose, decoupage the plates with napkins using the following technique.

Reverse decoupage with drawing

It makes sense to do this method only on a transparent plate:

• Cut out the design and degrease the surface by wiping it with alcohol.
• Place the picture on the back of the plate.
• Do not coat the entire pattern with glue, but only its edges.

Important! Try not to hit the front of the plate.

• When the glue is completely dry, coat the product with varnish.

Plate decor with plastic beads and seed beads

By using this simple technique, you will be surprised how fun decorating your plates with your own hands can be:

1. Grease the plate with refined sunflower oil.
2. Distribute beads and seed beads on its surface.
3. Place in the oven (200°) and wait until they are partially melted.
4. Remove from oven. After the plate has cooled completely, fix the result with varnish.

Important! The beads must be plastic; others will not give the desired effect.

Decorating the plate with lace

To get a plate decorated with elegant lace, follow these simple steps:

1. Saturate the lace with clear glue.
2. Place on a plate and let dry.
3. Trim off any excess fabric and finish the job by coating it with varnish.

Plate decor with three-dimensional figures

Another interesting way to make decoupage plates with your own hands:

1. The necessary materials can be found in large quantities in the toy departments. Purchase a plaster figurine making kit and follow the instructions to make a figurine to decorate a plate.
2. When the figure dries, coat it with emulsion paint.
3. Glue the figure onto the plate and cover the work with varnish.

Important! To make the product especially colorful, paint the figures and the plate with paints before varnishing.

Decorating the plate with shells and starfish

Surely you have more than once brought shells, pebbles and starfish from the sea yourself or received them as gifts. These things are perfect for making decorative plates with your own hands:

• Degrease the surface with alcohol.
• Place existing decorations on the glue in the order you like best.

Important! For best results, the glue should be thick and transparent.

• When the glue is completely dry, coat the plate with varnish and enjoy this piece of the sea!

Natalia Karpova

Master class “Decorating a plastic plate”

using the decoupage technique.

Purpose: the plate can become an interior decoration item, a gift for mother or grandmother on March 8th. You can prepare such gifts with your children. Adults, by their example, can captivate children and make them want to work like adults. Creating and maintaining an upbeat, joyful atmosphere of joint work helps children express joy and satisfaction with the results of their work.

Target: introduce the decoupage technique and the basic techniques of working in this technique.

Decoupage (from the French decoupage - noun, “that which is cut out”) is a technique of decoration, applique, decoration using cut out paper motifs. Chinese peasants in the 12th century. They began to decorate furniture in this way. And in addition to cut out pictures from thin colorful paper, they began to cover it with varnish to make it look like a painting! So, along with beautiful furniture, this equipment also came to Europe.

Today, the most popular material for decoupage is three-layer napkins. Hence another name - “napkin technique”.

Application can be absolutely limitless - dishes, books, boxes, candles, vessels, musical instruments, flower pots, bottles, furniture, shoes and even clothes! Any surface - leather, wood, metal, ceramics, cardboard, textiles, plaster - must be plain and light, because the design cut out of the napkin must be clearly visible.

Materials for work:

disposable plate;

napkin with a themed pattern;

acrylic artist paints;

degreasing agent (nail polish remover);

PVA glue;

brush number 5;

sponge made from a sponge for washing dishes.

Step-by-step work:

We choose a disposable plate as a base blank.

At the preliminary preparation stage, degrease the surface of the plate with nail polish remover.

We dilute PVA glue in a 1:1 ratio.

Take a three-layer napkin and cut out the desired fragment. Separate the two lower layers; we only need the top layer with the pattern.

Place the piece of napkin on a plate, face up.

Gently coat a napkin with PVA glue on top, starting from the middle. (Be very careful - the napkin is thin and breaks easily)

To decorate the edge of the plate, cut a strip of napkin. Carefully tear off one edge along the entire length of the strip. Separate the top layer from the bottom and paste it along the edge, carefully smoothing out the folds.

We select acrylic paint by color. Using a sponge, apply paint to the surface of the plate in a “choke” pattern to obtain an openwork surface.

Leave to dry (you can use a hairdryer for quick drying).

After the product has dried, coat it with varnish in 2-3 layers.

The plate is ready. I wish you creative success!

An interesting hobby of “hand-made” has long come into fashion - things made with one’s own hands. Some people became interested in sewing clothes, others in creating crafts from plastic or designer dolls, and some of us discovered decoupage of plates. This is a fairly recent hobby that has gained its popularity due to the availability of tools and the low cost of available materials for work. Literally everything is used here - from napkins to eggshells, but the result is striking in its originality and beauty, photos of such works inspire more and more people, and the hobby is constantly growing in the number of devoted followers. Today, many websites are being created with photo and video materials, which tell in detail how to do this simple work step by step with your own hands.

Natasha Fokhtina, the author and presenter of her own program about handmade crafts on one of the television channels, is recognized as one of the “gurus” of the handmade trend. Today we will look at several ways to make such a plate - your own unique interior decoration, based on the methods and techniques of her video tutorials.

What is plate decoupage?

This is a technique for decorating dishes by gluing part of a picture to it with a final coating of varnish so that it is securely fastened, and literally “decoupage” is translated from French as “cut out”. The founders of the trend were German artisans of the late 15th century, who began decorating ordinary furniture with similar pictures. In the 17th century, Europe was swept by a wave of passion for Chinese and Japanese motifs, and therefore all segments of the population became interested in do-it-yourself decoupage, so by the 19th century it had become widespread; but this hobby came to Russia only at the beginning of this century, and has gained real popularity only in our days.

The easiest thing for beginners will be decoupage of plates; later, you can learn to decorate furniture, bags, etc. in the same style. Themes can be different: New Year's landscape, flowers, still lifes, even fragments of classical paintings. Or, why not, an old photo of your beloved grandmother. The main thing will be that you make this miracle with your own hands.

What you will need

• plate;
• napkins - these can be special napkins for decoupage, or the most common options with any pattern;
• picture or photo of your choice;
• glue – acrylic or PVA;
• scissors;
• alcohol;
• craquelure;
• eggshell;
• brushes;
• primer;
• acrylic paints of any two colors;
• oil gold or other paint.

Not the entire list is needed for work. You will need all the tools, but you can choose just one from napkins, photographs, craquelure or eggshells.

Decoupage plates are divided into types:

1. With napkins. If special napkins are used, intended specifically for decoupage, then they are layered, separating the upper part; if ordinary analogues are used, they are not separated into layers, but glued as is. The execution technique can be found in Fokhtina’s photo and video lessons at the end of the article.
2. With craquelure. The plate is painted with a paint of a special composition, which cracks textured when dry.
3. Eggshell. Pieces of eggshell are glued onto the drawing, photograph or the area around them as a frame.
4. Photo design. The style and technique is the same as when using napkins, just using a printed photograph as the image.

In addition to this method, decoupage plates are divided into:

• direct - an image or photo is superimposed on the front of the dish;
• reverse decoupage of a plate - the design is applied to the reverse side. Typically used on transparent saucers.

Which plate is better to choose:

Among the abundance of all kinds of plates, you can choose any one to suit your taste, but not every dish is suitable for decoupage. Many saucers are produced with corrugated or pimpled texture, and some of them even have their own design, similar in style to the one we want to make ourselves. In addition, all plates differ in the material they are made of - it can be ceramics, glass, porcelain, etc. For work we will need the simplest white porcelain plate, smooth and without any images.

Direct decoupage technique with drawing:

1. A design is cut out from a napkin with scissors. If a photograph is used, then by analogy the necessary part is taken. These can be any topics; on the eve of the New Year, New Year's themes were especially popular, but this holiday is still quite a long time away. This is also a great gift for March 8th, and, of course, for the birthdays of loved ones.
2. The plate itself needs to be degreased; to do this, moisten a cotton pad with alcohol and wipe all surfaces - front and back.
3. After degreasing, the dishes are thoroughly wiped dry, otherwise, during the process of applying the image, folds or bubbles may appear on it.
4. A drawing, photo or cut out fragments are carefully placed on the front of the plate.
1. Correctly placed parts are covered with glue, smoothing out all fragments with a brush.
2. After the glue has dried, the entire surface of the plate with the image is varnished.
3. We wait until the varnish dries - and the plate is ready.

This method is used to create decorative plates. If you plan not only to admire them, but also to serve fruits and goodies in them for tea, then it is better to use reverse decoupage.

DIY reverse decoupage technique:

1. The manipulations of cutting out the design and degreasing are identical to the direct method.
2. The difference is that the design is attached to the back of the dish, and the plate itself must be transparent, otherwise the work will not be visible and will completely lose its meaning.
3. There is also a difference in the technique of applying glue. It does not coat the entire design, but only the edges, and it is better not to go onto the front surface of the plate, but small flaws are allowed, the main thing is not to smear the glue too much. On the photo and video materials on our website you can clearly see the style and technique of work.
4. After the glue has completely dried, all the “blunders” can be carefully cleaned up.
5. If an opaque background around the drawing is planned, then this surface is painted with acrylic paints and allowed to dry.

Direct decoupage of plates.

And again we will talk about plates. I have already written about why I advise beginning decoupage artists, especially those who want to make work not only for themselves, but also for sale, to take a closer look at this type of decoupage. If for reverse decoupage you can only use transparent glass plates, then for direct decoupage any will do. Direct decoupage is somewhat more labor-intensive than reverse decoupage, but the result is much more interesting. On ceramic or glass plates, decoupage in most cases should look like painting on ceramic or porcelain. Of course, any decor, be it ornament, relief or textured surface, is welcome. But traces from a foam sponge (the most common defect in decoupage work), streaks from a brush, smudges of varnish are unacceptable. If you want to make a relief on some part of the work or decorate a plate with an outline, first achieve the ideal look of the entire work, and only lastly apply additional decor, and do not try to hide the defect with it. Believe me, it is always noticeable. Decoupage on plates can be done with napkins, decoupage cards, and printouts. Surface preparation and finishing work are the same in all cases. I will dwell in more detail on the most difficult option - decoupage with prints on large diameter plates, with a pattern covering the entire plate. Regarding napkins and decoupage cards, I just want to give a couple of tips. If you do decoupage with a napkin, it is often more convenient to glue it not entirely, but in parts. In this case, you can redraw the drawing. For example, this napkin, it would seem, is not at all suitable for decoupaging a plate. But I tore it into separate fragments and assembled it into this drawing.

If the printout can be made exactly as you need, then when working with decoupage cards, as with napkins, you have to adapt to the design. And most often, especially when working with decoupage cards, you can’t do without significant painting. By using printouts when decoupaging, underdrawing can be minimized. This is especially true for those who, like me, cannot draw. If the plate is less than 19 cm in diameter, then there are no special problems, because It is possible to print the entire picture on an A4 sheet. With a larger plate size, depending on the chosen picture, you can go in two ways. For example, on these plates the lower part of the picture is a printout, and the upper part is an underpainting. Anyone can paint a sky like the one on the first plate and a tree crown like the one on the second.

And, when using such pictures, any large-scale painting will already be noticeable. Therefore, I made these plates in the manner that will be discussed.

Of course, you can’t do without minimal painting. But I will try to tell you how to reduce it to a minimum.

I chose this picture for the future plate. My plate has a diameter of 24 cm. And if the picture is simply printed on an A4 sheet, then at least a 5 cm wide underdrawing will be required. I realistically assess my capabilities and therefore choose the option with minimal underdrawing.

First of all, I mentally (shown in red for clarity) draw a line in the picture that divides it into two parts, neither of which should be wider than 19 cm. If possible, the line should follow the existing lines of the drawing. The more successfully you manage to outline this line, the easier it will be to work with this picture in the future.

Then, in any graphic editor, rotate the picture so that the intended line takes a vertical position.

Not everyone knows Photoshop, so I will try to explain what to do next with this picture using only Word. Open a new page and in the “Page Options” settings set the page width to be at least 2 centimeters larger than the diameter of the plate. I set it to 27 cm. We set the minimum width of the margins, so that the drawing can fit on this sheet without distorting the dimensions.

Insert the drawing onto the sheet.

We cut off the right side of the drawing, so that the line that we mentally outlined is completely in the remaining part. The picture shows that the width of the picture is now 24cm instead. was only 16.47 cm.

Go to “Page Settings” again and set the standard A4 format.

Now the sheet with this part of the drawing can be printed.

We carry out a similar operation with the right side of the picture. And the mentally outlined line must enter completely into this part.

After printing, we get two such images.

We start decoupaging the plate with a primer. First wipe the plate with any degreaser. A primer can be used specially for glass and ceramics. I always use a primer, which I wrote about before. It suits me in all respects - high quality, cheap, and everything I need for priming is always at hand.

The first layer is applied to the plate with a very thin layer of white acrylic paint. I use construction acrylic paint. After 20 minutes, apply a very thin layer of acrylic varnish. It is better to apply the paint with a foam roller or just a piece of foam rubber, and the varnish with a wide synthetic brush. When the varnish has set, apply again - a layer of paint, a layer of varnish. But I repeat, the layers must be very thin.

After the second pair of layers has dried, the surface should be lightly sanded with the finest sandpaper. Apply paint and varnish again and let dry for at least 12 hours. And sand again. The surface of the plate should be absolutely smooth both in appearance and to the touch.

We cut out the printouts along the contour of the picture and along the line that we previously mentally outlined. Those. you get two halves, which when added form a complete picture. My printouts are made on calligraphy rice paper and do not require any additional preparation for gluing. If you make printouts on regular paper, you will have to work with them more. When printing on thick office paper or photo paper, it is necessary to remove excess layers of paper. There are several ways to thin paper, any of them can be used. Prints made on plain paper no thicker than 60 denier. There is no need to completely thin it out. You can thin only the edges of the picture around the entire perimeter using sandpaper or tape. Such printouts must be soaked in water for several minutes before gluing. Decoupage cards also need to be soaked before gluing. The only exceptions are cards from those manufacturers who indicate that their cards do not need to be soaked.

The picture is glued to the plate with PVA glue or decoupage glue. When gluing, you need to pay special attention to the joining of the two halves of the picture. In most cases, it is almost impossible to cut out pictures so that they fit together exactly. But it’s better to have small gaps between them than for one part of the picture to overlap the other. When gluing a napkin, glue is not applied to the plate, but placed on top of the napkin. When gluing prints and decoupage cards, both the surface of the plate and the glued side of the picture are smeared with glue. When gluing printouts on rice paper and thinned printouts, do not apply glue to the printouts first. They are applied to the surface of the plate greased with glue and coated with glue on top. It is very important to ensure that there are no air bubbles left under the picture. All excess glue and air must be carefully expelled from under the picture with a rubber spatula or roller. After gluing, the picture must be allowed to dry thoroughly.

As I already wrote above, it is very difficult to do without painting at all, but it is possible to reduce it to a minimum. So on this plate I ended up with several small areas along the line where the picture joins that need to be painted on. Before painting, be sure to cover the picture with one layer of varnish. If you don’t like something when you start painting, thanks to the varnish layer, the paint can be easily wiped off immediately. It is quite difficult to choose the exact color. To get the desired color you have to mix at least 3-4 colors. But never save time at this stage. A small spot that does not match the color with the pattern can ruin the entire work. You need to look at the color of the paint before it dries, this is exactly what it will be like after varnishing. All painting must be done when only one coat of varnish has been applied. After several layers of varnish it is almost impossible to hide it.

When the painting is completely dry, we begin varnishing. Apply the varnish in a thin layer with a wide synthetic brush, making sure that no smudges form. After three layers of varnish, you can begin sanding with fine sandpaper. First, you need to sand very carefully, trying not to sand off the folds that formed when gluing on the edges of the plate. Due to the concave shape, it is not possible to paste without folds along the edges of the plate. Try to distribute the folds evenly without reducing their number. The smaller they are, the larger they will be. And it will be much more difficult to get rid of them. After the fifth to sixth layers of varnish, you can sand after each layer. Usually, at least 20-25 layers of varnish are required so that the folds and places where parts of the pattern join are completely invisible, but it’s worth it. The photographs below show what the edges of the plate looked like and the place where the fragments of the drawing were joined before and after underpainting and varnishing with sanding.

Decoupage plates

Decoupage plates are a unique and stylish way to decorate plain plates and get creative.

Basics of decoupage tableware: materials, techniques, recommendations

Today, vases, plates and various bottles, most often champagne bottles, have become a popular activity for modern housewives and even a way to make money using a favorite hobby.

Interesting fact: the first attempts at decoupage were discovered not 2-3 centuries ago, but even during the times of Ancient Egypt. Then, in order to preserve the papyrus, it was placed on the wall and covered with several layers of transparent resin.

Decoupage on papyrus during Ancient Egypt

After many years, it could be traced in the elements of a particular culture, but this technique reached particular popularity in the 17th-18th centuries in Italy and France when decorating various elements: from furniture to postcards and accessories.

Decoupage on furniture and interior items

In modern techniques, there are only 5 main techniques or types of decoupage:

1. Traditional or classic. For decoration, the image is pasted onto the selected surface and coated with varnish. It, in turn, is also divided into three types depending on what materials are used: decoupage using photographs, transferring a design from paper to the surface and using a special decoupage varnish.
2. Reverse decoupage. Patterns and drawings are applied not to the front side, but to the back side of the object (it is mainly used to decoupage plates).
3. Creating a volumetric effect. Not only napkin elements are used as materials, but also beads, stones, textures and fabric, and egg shells. Using this technique, decoupage is done on vases, watches, champagne bottles, plates, boxes and almost any other items that you like as a base.
4. The artistic technique attaches particular importance to blurring the boundaries between the base and the glued part to create one complete picture.
5. The deco patch absorbed the basis of the patchwork. Various shreds and pieces of paper are used for decoration. Three-dimensional objects look good in this style, so most often they make three-dimensional animal figurines and decorate champagne bottles.

What to pay attention to when decorating plates

Every housewife tries to make her kitchen cozy and unique. A variety of decoration methods are used, and the most common is decoupage.

Decoupage on plates is a real work of art
Bright decoupage plates will help give the interior a cheerful mood Decoupage plates in ethno style

Utensils created with its help: vases, plates, champagne bottles, saucers will not only decorate the kitchen or dining room, but also a good gift for loved ones.

Decorative set of plates for kitchen decoration

Decoupage plates are an excellent choice for those who are just looking at this type of art. You can use any type of plates for decoration.

Artistic decoupage of plates

But, if you are not yet confident in your abilities, it is better to focus on flat products with a smooth surface. The best choice would be plastic or porcelain utensils without patterns or ornaments.

Decoupage plates are a unique and stylish way to decorate ordinary plates and express your creativity

Also, in addition to the basics, you need to stock up on the following tools and materials:

• napkins with scenes and patterns;
• decoupage glue and varnish;
• brushes with bristles made of synthetic fibers;
• acrylic paints;
• stencils and scissors.

Decoupage of plates can be created both on the front side of the product and on the back side.

Decoupage on the front side of the plate

In the second case, this is possible if you take a completely transparent glass or plastic plate as a basis. This technique is called “reverse” decoupage.

The main stages of creating a masterpiece from a plate

Decoupage of plates is not a complicated process at all and will not take much time and effort.

Decoupage is a special form of needlework with which you can decorate your kitchen with your own hands.

The first and most important step in the work is the complete cleansing of the working base. It needs to be washed, dried and degreased very carefully. If these conditions are not met, the end result may not please you and will forever discourage you from studying this technique further.

Next, we choose from the available napkins those that we like best. You can also combine several sections of different napkins to achieve one overall design. After the choice is made, you only need to separate the top layer of the napkin.

If you have chosen several patterns, then you should figure out in advance where each one will be located directly on the base. Place them on a plate and see how the composition looks. If the base will be decorated with one napkin, then you need to attach it to the plate and mark where the hanging areas will be. They need to be cut with scissors in advance.

Napkins for decoupage can be the most unusual

Next, acrylic glue is applied to the laid out decorative elements and carefully distributed over the surface using a brush. You can also use a brush to smooth out any unevenness that may have arisen when laying out the drawings. You need to make sure that there are no air bubbles or folds under the napkins. After the glue is evenly applied to the entire plane, you can leave the product to dry.

The main thing in decoupage is accuracy

The last step is coating with acrylic varnish and the decoupage of the plate is completed.

Decoupage of plates can be mastered by every craft lover
Decoupage is a fascinating form of creativity
Decoupage of plates is a great way to make original decorative items with your own hands

After this simple technique has been mastered, you can turn to reverse decoupage and the use of additional decorative elements: photos, creating a scuffed or craquelure effect.

Decorating other elements of dishes

I am sure that each of us has faced a dilemma when a beautiful bottle (for example, of liqueur or champagne) was left at home. The contents were gone, but it was a pity to throw it away. In this case, a good solution would be to decorate it using decoupage. You can use a variety of bottles, not only those of champagne or other alcohol, the main thing is that the bottle itself has an unusual shape.

Decoupage on bottles is an original way to make interesting decorations for the kitchen

Imagine how several bottles made in the same style, for example, Victorian, ethnic or Provence, will look in the kitchen.

The most popular now are images of flowers, small plots and ethnic patterns. In the Provence style, images of olive branches, spices and baskets of flowers using abrasions and craquelure would be appropriate.

Classic Provence using decoupage technique on bottles

You can also decoupage a vase that you are already tired of or has gone out of fashion.

This is an excellent solution for updating your interior. Now in stores you can find a huge number of transparent glass vases of completely different shapes and sizes. This is exactly what is best suited for decoration.

Decoupage combined with craquelure

Decoupage is not a very complicated, but incredibly diverse decoration technique. Completely different objects are suitable as objects: plates, vases, champagne bottles, boxes, key holders and much more.

Such items will add uniqueness and special charm to your interior, and can also become an exclusive gift for family and friends.

Decoupage plates

Reverse decoupage