Decoupage. You Should Do It.

Decoupaging. All it takes is paper, scissors, glue and a thing to be decorated. This is a great craft for the poor and/or cheap. I get a great deal of my decoupage supplies from my local 99 Cent Store. Whatever white glue they have, I buy. And then I water it down-- sometimes as much as one part water to one part glue. You can buy decoupage glue-- I have-- but all it is is watered down Elmer's that costs 5 times as much. The one place I may spend a little more would be on the star of the decoupage process: the paper.

Wrapping paper is ideal for decoupage due to its graphic nature. Again I check out my local 99 Cent Store and I search for the cheapest paper they have. This is not only because I'm a skinflint but because the cheaper the wrapping paper, the thinner it will be and thinness is good for decoupaging little boxes. The wrapping paper used for this box is not the thinnest and cheapest, however. This was a good grade wrap. I loved the crackle angels.

I could do a whole series of entries on handmade papers. Handmade paper can be a little bit more difficult to work with than wrapping paper. Some can be very thick, some quite delicate and most are quite a bit more expensive than 99 Cent Store wrapping paper. But it's so beautiful. I used to find packs of 5 X 5 handcrafted papers at Target but now all they have is card stock for scrapbooking. If I want handmade paper now it's the internet or a special trip to Micheal's. The paper pictured is called Banana paper.

My secret favorite decoupage paper-- napkins. Recently I was at a Party City near me for non-crafty reasons and ended up spending 30 bucks on napkins because they were so purdy! Like I had 30 bucks to spend on friggin paper. I'm supposed to be saving up money made from selling so that I can finally buy some precious metal but instead I spend thirty flippin' dollars on NAPKINS, for Allah's sake! What is wrong with me?! This is an example of one of the napkins I bought that day. I won't be able to buy real silver but at least the box is painted silver.


Decoupage boxes can be found on my Artfire Studio.
Examples of mostly non-precious metal earrings at my Etsy Store.