Box design techniques. Decoupage boxes in different styles: ideas and master classes. Styles in which decoupage is performed

Many needlewomen love to make things for the home with their own hands using the decoupage technique. For decoupage, use either special napkins from a store for artists, or any ones you like, which are sold in hardware departments. In our master class we use a napkin specially designed for this type of work.

Decoupage wooden box

To decorate an ordinary, inconspicuous wooden box with decoupage, we will need the following materials:

a wooden box blank, in our case the most ordinary box;
acrylic paints in wood shades;
decoupage card;
decoupage glue;
aerosol varnish;
two-step craquelure;
copper pigment;
glue for gold leaf;
potassium crumb;
skin;
shellac varnish;
transparent wax.

Master class on decoupage of a wooden box

In this master class we will show you how easy it is to make a beautiful decoupage box.

1. First of all, we begin the initial processing of the workpiece, that is, the box itself. To do this we need to use sandpaper. Rub the box with sandpaper until it is as smooth as possible.

2. Now we determine which parts of the box we need to stain, that is, use paints to darken the color of the wood. We don't need to stain the top of the box, as it will be decorated with a napkin. In order not to stain it, we seal it with masking tape.

3. Now we will stain the box. It is better to do this sequentially, in several shades that match the color of the picture. We make the stain from a mixture of acrylic paint and a glazing medium, which gives the paint transparency. Mix a shade close to the hair color of the girl at the piano.

4. Coat the box with a brush and let it dry.

5. Now mix a redder shade, similar to the second girl’s dress. The box gets a little darker.

6. Finally, we use the darkest color, cover the box with it, and let it dry.

7. After this, you can sand the edges of the box a little, thereby whitening them.

8. We received a box in tones close to the tones of the image of the girls at the piano. It's time for a decoupage card. Cut the card to the size of the box.

9. Soak the decoupage napkin in water for a few minutes. This will help the picture stretch a little before applying the glue. If we don't do this, the picture will begin to stretch during the gluing process and bubbles may appear.

10. While the napkin is soaking, so as not to waste time, you can prepare everything you need for gluing. We coat the lid with glue, put paper towels to blot the picture before gluing it.

11. Now glue the decoupage napkin to the lid of the box.

12. Using coarse sandpaper, remove the excess edges of the napkin.

13. After this, dry the decoupage card thoroughly and cover it with another layer of glue-varnish. Let the box dry.

14. Apply the first layer of craquelure. It is most convenient to apply it directly with your finger, in a thin layer, spreading it in a circular motion.

15. After this, wait half an hour, the first layer will become transparent. You can apply a second layer. It is brownish in color, very reminiscent of gum arabic, and quite liquid. You should apply it carefully, never pouring too much. It is better to apply the layer as thinly as possible, because a thick layer sometimes peels off during the formation of cracks, this will ruin the entire appearance of the box.

16. Now you need to wait 3-4 hours until the craquelure is completely dry and covered with a network of beautiful cracks.

17. Next we move on to rubbing the cracks. You need to be careful here - in most cases, craquelure is water-soluble, so a drop of water or wet fingers can leave unsightly prints. So it’s better to rub the cracks with a cotton pad. You can use pigment, oil or bitumen as a grout. Rub in a circular motion, taking a little pigment onto the disc.

18. We fix the craquelure with aerosol varnish; it is better to apply several layers.

19. Now we coat the entire wooden box with varnish.

20. You can stop at this stage - our decoupage box is already ready and varnished. But let’s try to continue decorating, giving it the look of a more antique item, using potassium chips.

21. Apply a little glue to the palette and lightly rub it on the edges of the box around the motif and a little on the sides.

22. When the glue has become transparent, you can apply gold leaf: apply the leaf to the place where the glue was applied and lightly press it on top with a soft brush. It is very convenient to take leaflets from a jar with an electrified brush.

23. When the gold leaf has been applied to all the droplets of glue and has stuck well to it, you can use the same brush, using movements against the grain, to clean off the excess gold leaf from the box and collect it back into the jar for future work. And we fix the work itself with several layers of shellac varnish. You cannot use acrylic varnish here, otherwise the gold leaf will oxidize after some time.

24. Now let’s give the sides of the box a slight copper tint. For this you need a palette, wax and copper pigment.

25. Mix wax and a little pigment until smooth.

26. Rub the wax into the work with a brush or sponge.

27. After a few hours, polish the box with a soft cloth. We process the inside of the box or leave it untreated, depending on the purpose of the box.

28. Now the box is ready.

Currently, decoupage boxes are gaining more and more fans, which is not surprising. After all decoupage allows you not only to express your creative abilities with your own hands, but also to get an interesting thing. Even corresponding books appeared on sale. What is decoupage? This is a special technique with which you can transfer any picture to a surface. In this article we will look at the decoupage technique for a box.

Necessary tools for decoupage boxes

The box decoupage technique involves the use of the following items:

preparing a box (you can use a blank purchased at a specialized store);
napkins for decoupage technique;
sandpaper;
PVA glue;
decoupage glue;
acrylic paints;
sponge;
tassels;
screwdriver;
adhesive tape or tape;
various decorative elements;
acrylic primer.

Box decoupage technique

So, having collected the necessary tools, we proceed directly to creativity. Perhaps the most ideal material for decoupage is wood. At the same time, using this technique, you can process both the tea box and the plastic surface with your own hands. Whatever material you choose, in any case, the box must be prepared first. To do this, we treat the surface of the box with sandpaper.

The workpiece can then be primed using acrylic primer.

It is better to remove metal elements using a screwdriver. The next stage is toning the workpiece. To do this, paint the box with acrylic paint.

The next step is to directly transfer the design to the surface of the workpiece. Such pictures for transfer can be purchased at a specialized store. To do this, we separate with our own hands the top layer of the decoupage napkin on which the design is applied. We tear out the elements of the drawing with our hands. Having placed the napkin on the desired field of the box, apply glue for decoupage.

Leave until completely dry. Apply varnish on top in several layers. The next stage is decorating the box with your own hands.

First, we return all the elements removed at the first stage of work. Decorating the box depends solely on the style chosen for decoupage. In addition, the product can be refined using the craquelure technique.

To better understand the sequence of actions, watch the video at the end of the article.

Ideas for decoupage boxes

Decoupage of a box is a creative activity, so even if you follow clear instructions, you will end up with an original thing. Let's look at the basic ideas that are used when decoupaging boxes. Among the most popular:

vintage;

Many creative people are now engaged in decorating things and objects such as decoupage. There are professionals here, and there are amateurs who master this technique. For beginners, I would like to suggest such a topic as decoupage boxes. What is decoupage used for? On anything: leather, metal, cardboard, glass, plastic, fabric, and, of course, wood. The box using the decoupage technique can be made in 1-2 evenings. Decoupage, like any decorative art design, has its own styles, here they are:

Provence (French pictures, flowers and plants).
Shabby Chic (romance, small or medium flowers, delicate shades).
Victorian (antique postcards, paintings, decorated with gilding on top).
Simplicity (newspapers, magazines, clippings with text).
In Vintage style (things in the style of the 20th century).
Ethnic style (Africa, Asia – bright birds, exotic animals).

Printing and thinning paper in decoupage

It is not always possible to buy decoupage napkins, or decoupage cards, photos for work. Let's try to make printed pictures for decoration. For this, you can take simple office paper, but photo paper is certainly better. Tracing paper, or even an ordinary napkin, will do - you just need to glue the napkin to a simple A4 sheet using masking tape. Gluing is done to prevent your printer from chewing the sheet.

Seal

If you have a laser printer at home, you're in luck. It's better than inkjet. But even inkjet is suitable for printing if you choose pigment ink for it rather than water-based. The coating of the image with varnish depends on the printer. Laser printer printing is not afraid of water and can be coated with water-based varnish.

Paper thinning

So, you have made a drawing, but that’s not all - the paper for subsequent decoupage needs to be thinned. This can be done in several ways.

Using tape. We apply varnish over the surface of the picture, you can use regular hairspray. The varnish must dry. We glue the tape to the back of the picture, making sure there are no folds or cracks. Carefully remove the top layer of paper. You should be left with a thin, almost transparent picture - we will use it when we decoupage the box with our own hands.
Water method. Apply several layers of acrylic varnish or hairspray to the picture. Once is not enough, you need to varnish 3-4 times, and let it dry in between. Next, leave the picture in a bowl of water. Keep in water for 20-30 minutes. Then we take it out of the water onto a smooth surface, and roll up a layer of paper from the inside with our fingers. We use a thin pattern in decoupage style.
Actions with photo paper. If you printed the drawing on photo paper, or took a photo postcard, you need to cover the photo on the glossy side with varnish in 3-4 layers. We wait for it to dry completely and place it on a wet surface (board), paper side down. After 5 minutes, using a needle to pry the slice of the picture, we disconnect the photo layer from the paper layer. Then gently pull the edge away from you and disconnect it. The film we receive is ready for use on any surface.

Decoupage boxes in Provence style (master class)

Making volumetric decoupage of a box in Provence style is a fun and interesting activity. Let's see how you can bring a box to life using this interesting technique. Such a box would be appropriate for the kitchen, like a box for spices, and would be useful as a decoupage of a tea box.

To work you will need:

Box (wooden, cardboard, plastic, metal for cookies or tea).
The soil is white.
Acrylic paint white or light. The paint is brown or bronze.
Acrylic glue.
Acrylic varnish for decoupage.
Acrylic 3d varnish.
2 identical pictures or napkins with a pattern.
Polymer clay is self-hardening.
Brush.
Straw for decoration.
The sandpaper is fine.

First, you need to prime the box with acrylic primer. We wait for it to dry, then take sandpaper and use it to remove any unevenness on the surface of the product. Then cover the entire surface with white acre paint.

We continue our master class. Preparing a picture for volumetric decoupage. We leave one picture as it is (it will be the bottom one). In the second picture we will cut out those motifs that we want to make voluminous. Next, we layer the picture and place it in the center of the lid. We perform decoupage with acrylic glue or PVA glue. We take a brush, and from the center to the edges, we begin to apply glue to the picture. We act carefully, making sure that there are no folds in the picture.

Slowly, let it dry, then brush it with glue again.

We glue the entire lid, don’t forget to glue the corners. You don’t have to bend the corners of the napkin, but simply tear them off, but that’s what you like best.

We cut out individual parts of the picture and put them aside.

We wait until the napkin or picture dries well. Then we sculpt a three-dimensional shape from our clay, in this case the shape of bottles.

We don’t wait for the clay to dry and harden. Glue our volumetric motifs with glue to our bottom drawing. We get 2 bottles and a basket.

Spread the bottom motif and glue the clay.

While the clay has not yet hardened, you can correct some of its unevenness. Make sure there are no sharp edges.

So, we have a three-dimensional picture. Next, cover the entire surface of the acre with varnish 2 times. Add a piece of straw for decoration. And drop some varnish on the olives. We are waiting for it to dry.

The inside was painted brown or bronze. Dipped a sponge into this paint, or took a dry brush, and brushed it over the corners of the box for a worn effect. Let's varnish again. The Provence decoupage box is ready.

Shabby chic style is often used in decoupage for boxes, dishes, furniture, and even shoes. Usually white, or light background, and on a light background.

In order to decoupage a box in the shabby chic style, we will need white and brown acre paint, water-soluble varnish, and PVA glue. So, we propose to see how a box is made in the shabby chic style - step by step.

To work you will need:

Acre paint - white and dark.
Decoupage glue (PVA is possible).
Brush.
Water based varnish.
Sandpaper.
Wooden box.
Water spray bottle.
Napkins, or pictures.
Candle.

Before work, it is better to unscrew and remove all the fittings from the box. We dilute dark paint with water.

It should look like liquid kefir. We paint the entire box dark. This is necessary in order to “age” it, and instead of priming. Let the product dry. Sand the box first with sandpaper and then wax the corners. It is convenient to use a candle for this.

Dilute white acre paint with water. The consistency is the same as dark paint. We paint the entire box. Leave to dry. We go through the corners and surface with sandpaper. A dark color should appear.

We take napkins or pictures and mark places for them. We leave the motive, and tear out the unnecessary background with our hands. Next, we layer the pictures, leaving only the top layer. We glue the napkins either using the method from the previous master class, or using water. That is, we drip water into the middle of the picture, and drive the water to the edges so that there are no creases. Then, when the drawing is ready, we decoupage the box with our own hands over the entire surface of the product. Let it dry for a while, maybe overnight.

Then we coat everything with varnish, preferably 2-3 times. Attach the fittings. So the decoupage is ready.

The video shows how a decoupage book box is made.

What a beautiful decoupage you get if you put patience and effort into it. Not everyone can draw, but everyone can try their hand at decoupage. The decoupage of the round box looks very interesting. We invite you to look at decoupage jewelry boxes ideas.

Only true connoisseurs of beauty understand how important the decoupage technique is in the creative process. It is with its help that you can decorate, update and improve absolutely any thing. The decoupage of the box deserves special attention. By applying a design to an old box, you can make it unusual, valuable and unique. These can be characters from your favorite computer games, or your favorite book, cute cats and puppies, floral patterns, or landscapes - it all depends on your interests and preferences. Decoration can be done in various techniques and styles - the box can be decorated in an antique style, or with the help of folk craft ornaments you can make it look like you just bought it at a fair. The box can be made from any materials - wood and cardboard, a plastic container, or a tin box for sweets or tea. It can be given the appearance of a pirate chest, a rustic craft box, an elegant bonbonniere... The flight of imagination is unlimited! Done? You can puff out your cheeks and brag on social networks, and most importantly, use it with pleasure!

Only true connoisseurs of beauty understand how important the decoupage technique is in the creative process.

It’s not for nothing that vintage accessories are especially popular and valued all over the world. They contain some kind of mystery and history. You involuntarily want to treat them with care and attention.

It’s not for nothing that vintage accessories are especially popular and valued all over the world.

What is necessary:

wooden box;
glue;
primer;
scissors;
brush;
sponge;
pencil;
decoupage card;
lace;
paints;
3D-potch;

Progress:

Turn the decoupage card over and place the lid down, tracing it along the contour of the box.
Cut along the contour.
Coat the lid with glue and attach the prepared card, coating the outside with glue as well.
Decorate the bottom of the product with lace. To give it an antique look, apply paint with a sponge and place it on newspaper. After the lace part has dried, fix it with glue in the lower part of the wooden structure.
Treat the inside of the box with a primer and apply paint of a contrasting color on top.
Also decorate the inside with lace.
Using 3D-potch to add volume to the drawing.

Coat the finished product with varnish on the inside and outside.

Gallery: decoupage boxes in different styles (25 photos)

Decoupage of a round box in Provence style

Decorating boxes in this style can easily be called art. After all, even an old, unremarkable thing is transformed beyond recognition. Beautiful, delicate tones add special grace to the finished product. To make such a box yourself, use the step-by-step guide:

Decorating boxes in this style can easily be called art.

What is necessary:

round box;
acrylic paints;
napkins;
glue;
sponge;
brush.

Progress:

Apply a thin layer of white paint to the box.
After this layer has dried, apply ivory paint.
Cut out a suitable design from a napkin and glue it immediately to the workpiece.
Paint the side parts in several layers.
Paint the product with a small layer of gray paint both on the top and on the sides.
Using a sponge, apply paint along the edge, reminiscent of burnt sugar in color.

Important! Before applying a new coat of paint, the previous one must dry completely.

Wooden box decor in shabby chic style

This work is so simple that even for novice needlewomen its implementation will not be difficult. There are only a few stages of work and several of its characteristic features that can be mastered fairly quickly. You just need to follow the instructions.

Progress:

Carefully unscrew and remove absolutely all fittings from the workpiece.
Mix dark paint with water. The consistency of the mixture should resemble low-fat kefir.
Paint the structure with the prepared paint and wait until it dries.
Use sandpaper to sand the outer part of the product.
Rub the edges generously with wax.
Now mix white paint with water and completely paint over the wooden box.
After the white paint has dried, go over the corners with sandpaper so that the dark color begins to show in these places.
Choose a suitable design on a napkin and cut out this motif.
Layer this picture and use only the topmost layer in your work.
Glue the napkins using water.

Cover the product with three layers of varnish and only then re-fix all previously removed fittings.

Decoupage antique jewelry boxes: master class

The retro-style box is not only an ideal box for storing jewelry, but also a great gift. Whoever is presented with such an unusual gift will definitely be pleased. This product looks very unusual.

The retro-style box is not only an ideal box for storing jewelry, but also a great gift

Progress:

Inspect the wooden product carefully and sand it with fine sandpaper.
If small cracks are found, cover them with putty.
Use masking tape to cover the inside and the loops on the outside. This will prevent paint from getting into these areas.
Tear off the fragments needed for work from the napkin.
Attach them to the lid and trace along the outline with a pencil.
Paint the box with brown paint, leaving only the outlined areas where the design will be placed unpainted.
Apply varnish over the paint and let it dry.
Rub the ribs with a candle.
After this, apply white paint, and after it dries, sand the box with sandpaper.
Now glue the drawings to the lid.
Apply paint to the entire top of the product.
Remove the masking tape and cover the inside of the product with stain.

After the stain has dried, saturate these areas with varnish.

Decoupage boxes in patchwork style

Patchwork is a very unusual handicraft that involves making both small and large crafts from scraps of fabric. Fabric decoupage of the box is a very bold and successful solution.

Patchwork is a very unusual handicraft

What is necessary:

wooden box;
lace;
linen fabric;
padding polyester;
lock;
glue;
paints;
tassels;
texture paste;
stencil;
palette knife;
sandpaper;
masking tape;
a thread;
needle.

Progress:

Clean the workpiece using sandpaper.
Cover the fabric with white paint, leaving only the edges unpainted.
Cut out squares from a napkin and remove all the lower layers from these parts.
Attach these elements to the fabric and coat with glue.
Lay padding polyester on the inside of the fabric, then fold the edges.
Secure the structure in this position using masking tape.
Pull the edges onto the cardboard using a needle and thread.
Fix the workpiece on the lid of a wooden box.
Apply structural paste to the side elements using stencils and a palette knife.
Dry the work and be sure to varnish it.

Finally, attach the lock.

Methods for thinning paper

It is not enough just to choose a suitable pattern to perform decoupage. The paper must be thinned. You can do this in the following ways:

Apply varnish over the surface of the design and let it dry. Secure with tape on the back side. Remove the top part of the picture. It should turn out very thin, almost transparent;
Several layers of varnish are applied to the picture. After it dries, the drawing is placed in water for half an hour. The workpiece is taken out and the inner layer is rolled up by hand;
in the case of using photographic paper, it is also initially coated with varnish. When the varnish has dried, place the photograph on a wet surface for five minutes and pry up the cut, detaching the layer of paper from the photo itself.

Decoupage boxes: aging and shabby chic (video)

Decoupage boxes (video)

On this page you will find a decoupage box for a lady, namely the history and my little experience of creating a thing in the shabby chic style. Let this master class lead you to new creative experiments and interesting works.

I once received criticism that most of my products were dark and old. Of course, I take such comments calmly and understand that it is even very useful, but for some reason it stuck very deep in my soul and did not let me go for a long time. Why not, what’s stopping me from making a box with my own hands in light pastel colors. For me, a lover of bitumen varnish, aging and other abrasions, this turned out to be very difficult, but something worked out.

Materials and tools

What do we need?

workpiece;
napkin for decoupage;
decoupage glue or PVA;
contour paint Tair;
artistic acrylic white primer Sonnet;
plastic frame (silicone mold, liquid plastic, disposable cup and kneading stick);
medallion for frame;
white acrylic paint;
acrylic lacquer;
synthetic brushes.

Decoupage

Cover the wooden box with white primer.

The sides and lid will be decorated with a beautiful napkin with a background floral pattern, which I prepared in advance in Photoshop and printed to the required parameters of the workpiece.

Cut a strip of napkin with a width equal to the height of the side of the box. And the same strip of film (file). We will glue as always - using the .

Place a strip of napkin face down on the film and pour a little water on it so that the napkin stretches. Apply glue to the sides and glue the napkin using film to the surface.

Run a cloth over the film to remove all air bubbles and remaining glue. Now you can remove the film.

Remove excess water and glue using a dry cloth, gently applying it to the surface of the cloth. If there was not enough napkin to cover the full circumference, as in my case, then you need to supplement the remaining part with another short strip of napkin. Tear out another small piece and slightly overlap the previous strip, glue it using a file or, if you can easily do without it, then using a brush and glue. It is important that the paper has torn edges. This will make the area of the surface where you glued the overlapping paper less noticeable.

In the same way we transfer the image to the lid of the box.

After the glued napkin has completely dried, the excess can be easily removed using a stationery knife. We go along the edge with a knife, but do not press too hard; we only need to cut off a thin layer of the napkin. Then we blot the excess with a wet brush and remove the pasted excess paper.

To obtain a more even color, tint the remaining area of the box with white paint.

We protect the surface with a thin layer of acrylic varnish and proceed to the next stage of decoration.

Using contour paint, draw a frame along the edge of the border of the napkin as shown in the photo. Instead of contour paint, you can use putty diluted with PVA glue, as in the photo master class on decorating a tray. The pattern can be anything - it can be just dots at equal distances from each other, or it can be “drops” as in this case. For beginners it may be a little more difficult, so practice on a draft first, and you will definitely succeed.

Plastic frame

The lid will also be decorated with a plastic frame. You can buy a ready-made frame (metal or plastic) in art stores, or you can get it yourself if you have silicone mold and liquid plastic.

Mix both components as described in the instructions (usually 1:1) and fill the mold. After 10 minutes (according to the instructions), you can remove the frame. I don’t wait until the composition has completely hardened, but remove it when it is still a little plastic. This way it is less likely to break. We decorate the medallion using decoupage technique, insert it into a frame and you’re done.

“Drawing” a mesh

Now let’s start “drawing” the mesh. Why I put this word in quotes is because we won’t draw anything. Honestly!

Let's prepare the surface for decoration, namely, coat it with varnish in 2 - 3 layers, and after final drying, secure the upper part of the side with masking tape, as in the photo.

We will apply the mesh with dried strips of contour acrylic paint. How to do it?

1-2 hours beforehand, you need to squeeze out the required number of “threads” of contour paint onto a clean file. They may be located on the file in a sloppy, chaotic manner - this is not a big deal. Try to ensure that the strip (thread) comes out in an even line at least 3 cm (for this box the required length is 3-3.5 cm). With experience you will get longer and straighter lines.

After an hour, or better yet two, you can peel off the strip and check for strength. Try to stretch it slightly. If it breaks quickly, then let it dry for another 1-0.5 hours. If the “thread” is strong, then the acrylic has dried, and you can start decorating. We choose a better thread, separate it from the file, cut off the tip a little with scissors and apply it to the surface, as shown in the photo.

First, we lay out the strips with a slope in one direction, then in the other. We cut off the excess thread using a stationery knife. We press each strip with a toothpick so that the acrylic adheres well to the surface. You will get a mesh. It is important that the surface to be decorated is non-porous, non-absorbent, i.e. varnished with acrylic varnish.

Finally, we will need a longer and smoother (dried on a file) strip. We place it on the surface, closing the mesh into a frame, as shown in the photo.

If the joint is not very neat, then the joint can be decorated (hidden) with fittings or a half-bead. Now you can remove the masking tape. This is what we got. The finished work must be coated with 1 - 2 thin layers of varnish. And the inside of the box can be covered with white velvet fabric.

DIY wedding gift.

Thank you for visiting us. I would be very grateful for your comments, and if you have any questions about this material, I will be happy to answer. Inspiration and new ideas for you.