Easter Gift Giving Decoupage

I am not sure where I get it from but I cannot bear to throw things away especially bottles and jars. I have agreed to run a decoupage evening for the Felpham Belles and wanted to do a more useful alternative to the usual egg decorating. Hence this little project was born.

• Simply make sure you wash the jars out well – clean the outside with alcohol or white spirit
• Decide how far up your jar you want your pattern to be and then put a thin layer of white acrylic paint  up to that point. Allow to dry. 
• Take your napkin and carefully remove the top patterned layer from the white, this will give you a very delicate patterned paper. (you can use the decoupage papers if you prefer)
• Use Deco Art Patio Paint and a soft brush to gently apply a thin layer to a small area that you wish to cover. 
• Then lay the thin layer of napkin gently across the small patch of wet paint using the soft brush to slowly glue it to the surface. 
• Work round your item – small patches as you go, until the item is covered.
• Leave to dry. 
• Apply a layer of clear varnish to give a really good seal. 
• Add buttons or ribbon as desired with a hot glue gun

I think they make great gifts that can be filled with a variety of things from little chocolate eggs to ready made cookie mixes, spice mixes or haberdashery items. 

Of course it all starts with the right type of napkins, and this variety gave me a lot of patterns in one napkin. I added the pen marks to indicate stitching for this little patchwork jar, adding a little button on the top. 

I enjoyed using jars of different styles too, they seem to lend themselves to different designs. 

The wish jars are made by painting the jars with PVA glue in which you have mixed glitter. The finer glitter gives a better finish. 

As you can see I have used darker clouds at the bottom of the jars, gradually using lighter glitter until the top of the jar has silver. 

Once the jars were nice and dry I applied the butterfly decoupage around it. I think it looks as if the butterflies have just landed on the jar. 

I used a nice coloured napkin for the top of the jar and placed another butterfly on the top. 

Outliners come in a variety of colours, but I felt the white worked best for the word Wishes. 

I hope the class goes well. 

Kitch Kitchen – dresser revamp

I bought this dresser top for £15, it was the usual yellow pine – so I painted it a light blue and cream. There has been a lot of popularity for expensive paints that give a more chalky effect but the cost of them is huge! as much as £50 per 2 1/2 litre! In order to thicken the paint and create a more chalky texture I added three tablespoons of fine plaster to an ordinary standard tin of paint. I kept on mixing until the consistency was like whipped cream. It meant the coverage was very effective without too much preparation. 

I painted the back of the dresser in a white cream as I intended to use napkins to create a colourful background – the white would create a better base for the pattern. I gave the dresser a thin coat of varnish and allowed it to dry for a day or two. 

Patio paint is a wonderful medium, it is waterproof and can be used outside. It transforms napkins into a easy decoupage as it is gentle enough not to tear the delicate print. I buy the clear paint, but you can also get them in a range of colours. 

 You simply separate the sheets of the napkin until you have one fine patterned layer. 

With a very soft brush you simply paint the patio paint onto the surface and then gently lay the napkin over – painting another layer of glue and gently smoothing it onto the surface. 

If the napkin does break, you can repair the gap by laying a matching piece over. 

Keep pasting the napkins onto the surface until you have covered the area – allow to dry and then repeat another layer of patio paint over to seal. 

This can be used on any number of items, I have used it for tins as well as pots. My little kitchen is very short of space – and I could not use shelves because the walls are plasterboard. This has given a solution for all the necessities close at hand. It looks pretty too. 

Jamming!

I have been rather remiss of late, these lovely pots of jelly are made from L’s apples growing in her garden. We really enjoyed the mint jelly at the Apple fair at West Dean so I thought I would try and make my own. Apples are a great fruit to use in jam making as their high pectin levels set so easily. I had some scraps of this lovely blue rose vintage style fabric which I simply cannot bear to throw away, such a great use of scraps. 

The cow creamer is a burleigh design, and one of my favourites it always makes me smile when the milk comes out of the cow’s mouth! The little tea pot on the right is one of a pair my son gave me a few Christmases ago. I really do love blue and white china. 

Apple jelly is great to use with pork, but I decided to omit the mint this time. The cupboard is getting quite full now, but the supply of jars is still coming thick and fast from friends! (I think it is the hope that they will be returned full!) I am planning to start on mincemeat soon, I have never made it before but as A adores mince pies I thought it would be fun to try. 

As you can see my little dresser creates a great back drop for my jam, the little teapot on the right is a lovely gift from my son, and the chicken on the left was something I picked up in the lovely craft village in Broadwindsor a few years ago. I really must get round to painting my dresser soon; I feel it really shows off the shape of the furniture much better, but it is finding the time! Anyway, it is nice to have plans, and the sofa needs a new loose cover first.