Wikipedia defines Decoupage as follows : “Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut-outs onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on.” I think the “and so on” would refer to the other materials used in this craft like Modge Podge (the glue for sticking the cut-out pictures onto the item you are decoupaging) and Crackle-It, the agent which causes the crackling or antiqued effect.
You can decoupage virtually anything, from trays to lampshades, boxes, furniture and anything else that grabs your imagination! Here I have used some Arum lily images I cut out. This was done many years ago and is now showing signs of wear and tear as it is still in daily use.
Commonly an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the “stuck on” appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30 to 40 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a polished finish.
