Decoupage bottles with do-it-yourself napkins

Over the past few decades, decorating your home has become increasingly popular. Mistresses are constantly looking for some new detail in the interior of the living room, kitchen or bedroom, which will certainly decorate the room and cheer up. Manufacturers do not cease to please with all kinds of decor items for every taste and budget. However, sometimes you still want something original, "not the same as everyone else."

In this case, an original technique for decorating various objects called decoupage will come to the rescue, which means “cut” in French. This direction of creative activity has no boundaries and frameworks, here you can follow your imagination and realize the most creative ideas. As a result, it turns out, indeed, the original elements of a home or even office interior.

The most understandable for beginners and at the same time effective way is bottle decoration, which we will address in this article.

In simple words, the decoupage technique is a kind of applique made of napkins or, for example, fabric and other similar materials that are glued to various objects. “Canvas” for your fantasy in the field of decoupage can be bottles, caskets, scented candles, housekeepers, eggs for Happy Easter.

In order to do a really high-quality and stylish thing, you don’t need to have special skills and experience in the creative field.It is enough to prepare materials in advance, to think over the design in accordance with the place where the decoration will stand in the future. And it is also important to be careful, take care of the neat appearance of the created masterpiece.

The subject of decoupage can be absolutely any, everything depends on your imagination. You can choose plain paper napkins, creating stylish bottles that can be successfully placed on the upper shelves of the kitchen set. Now there is the opportunity to purchase napkins with a specific theme. For example, bottles with the image of a winter landscape or of the same Santa Claus look incredibly beautiful. A gentle still life with exquisite flowers will be an excellent occasion for a good mood in anticipation of spring.

We have already mentioned that paper towels are most often used for decoupage. And also sometimes needlewomen turn to the help of drawings, decoupage cards or photographs (not just simple ones, but those printed on a printer). For beginners, working with napkins is not always practical, because they have not yet fully mastered the skill, and this process is quite time-consuming.

Therefore, experts advise starting with the use of decoupage cards made from rice paper. It is not difficult to work with them, they are elastic, stretch without difficulty, and in contact with liquids do not lose their shape. In stores you can find similar paper of different weights and sizes.

But also often prefer paper decoupage cards. To create them, use simple and well-known paper, on which the drawing is applied. This version of the material is convenient when sticking, since it almost does not deform when in contact with liquid substrates. The colors and patterns of such cards are very diverse.

So, now we will find out what materials will be needed to successfully decorate a bottle using the decoupage technique:

1. a glass (possibly plastic) bottle with a smooth surface and without any flaws;
2. paper napkins (preferably three-layer) / decoupage cards / all kinds of fragments from magazines / photos printed on the printer;
3. an agent that removes fat from a glass surface (for example, alcohol or acetone);
4. acrylic paints and acrylic varnish;
5. PVA glue or a specialized adhesive designed for decoupage;
6. brushes of various thicknesses;
7. other elements for decoration (beads, beads and so on);
8. sharp scissors;
9. craquelure varnish (if suddenly you decide to create an antique effect);
10. sponge (foam) of small sizes;
11. containers for diluting paints;
12. sandpaper.

Really, high-quality decoupage glue does not have a pungent odor, very thick or, on the contrary, liquid consistency. When used, it does not darken, and during drying does not leave marks. Experienced needlewomen claim that a special tool makes the resulting product more vivid and attractive.

Consider some of the most popular brands. For example, decoupage glue called Mod podge plaid made in the USA and is used only for decoration of solid products. It dries within 72 hours after completion of work and gives the product a matte finish.

Glue called Decola manufactured in Russia. It is based on acrylic, the glue itself is colorless. It behaves ideally when in contact with fabric, wood, metal or glass, and dries completely in 12 hours.

Italian glue La doratura It is prepared on the basis of alcohol; it is suitable for gilding. Ideal for materials such as glass and ceramics.

Consider a step-by-step decoupage technique for a plastic bottle.

1. Empty plastic bottle (preferably colorless and transparent) to clear labels and any marks. Then use alcohol or acetone to clean the surface of the bottle, thereby degreasing it.
2. Now proceed to the "priming" of the surface. To do this, a small piece of foam must be dipped in white acrylic paint. Then, with dotted movements, apply paint to the bottle, literally poking it with a sponge. It is important to leave the bottom empty, and start painting it after the main surface of the bottle has completely dried.
3. After a while, the same procedure must be done again both on the surface and at the bottom of the bottle.
4. Now you need to choose the picture you like. If desired, you can cut out a single piece. Since the napkins are three-layer, you can get rid of the two lower layers - we need only the upper one, with the image. For convenience, you can cut the paper into several parts, from which to make your own drawing.
5. First you need to attach one fragment to the bottle, then with a brush dipped in glue (here it is better to use the one that looks like a fan in shape) to draw along the image. Apply glue from the center of the picture to its edges.
6. Having finished one drawing, you can proceed to the next, and when everything is completed, you must wait until the glue has completely dried.
7. If you want, then at this stage you can repeat the step with a sponge and paints, giving the bottle a shade. For example, mix white and pink acrylic paints, getting a pink color.
8. In order to give the bottle a certain effect of antiquity, it is necessary to create the appearance of crackling. To this end, they turn to the help of eggshells. It needs to be washed well and cleaned of the film, and then dried and broken into pieces of approximately the same size.
9. Around the image cut out from the napkin, it is necessary to apply glue, and attach a piece of the shell to it, pressing it with your finger. It is important to be careful not to damage brittle material.
10. It all depends on the flight of your imagination. As you want, this will be your creation. Pieces of shell can be broken again and parts of different sizes can be chosen, which will look more natural. Glue the shell up to the neck of the bottle.
11. Further, it is important to wait until the glue has completely dried, and after that you can give the shell the desired color by walking on it with the same piece of foam.
12. To give a more elegant and realistic image, you can draw cracks between the shells. For example, if you used pink for the entire surface of the bottle, then for the so-called cracks, you can choose a gentle lilac.
13. Now it’s important to let the resulting product dry in accordance with the time specified in the glue instructions.
14. At the final stage, it is necessary to cover the entire surface of the bottle with acrylic varnish using the same fan brush.
15. To give the bottle a full look, the same procedure with foam must be done with respect to the cork.

In fact, there is nothing complicated in creating an original interior item. For beginners, this process may raise some questions, but over time, everything becomes more than clear. Below is a master class on the decoupage of champagne bottles with your own hands.

1. First you need to prepare a glass bottle for work. To do this, clean it from labels and any contaminants. It can be soaked in soapy water or treated with sandpaper.
2. Now you need to degrease the surface with alcohol or acetone.
3. Next, you need to coat the surface of the bottle with a primer so that the next layer holds more reliably. After the agent has completely dried, we start using acrylic paint. Its color must be chosen such that it will successfully combine with the shade of the paper towel you have chosen: the paint should be at least a tone lighter than the paper. Most often, basic white paint is used. Allow time to dry.
4. If desired, the shade of the bottle can be made a little darker, and for applying paint it is better to turn to the help of a sponge.
5. From the napkin we cut out the drawing you like. For beginners, larger images are more suitable, since they are easier to work with. It is important to remember that for decoupage only the first layer of a napkin is needed, with a pattern.
6. In the place where the location of the picture is planned, apply glue. Next, we impose the image here, and on it we draw with a brush from the center to the edges in order to smooth out all the irregularities.
7. After the pictures are arranged in places, on top you need to apply another layer of glue for reliable fixation.
8. At the final stage, we turn to the help of acrylic varnish, which we apply to the entire bottle. Experts say that when using varnish in 3 layers, a bottle can be easily adapted for everyday life, and not just as a decoration.

See the next video for a workshop on decoupage bottles with napkins.