Decoupaging Transferware

It is a shame when a beautiful piece of transferware gets separated from its family.  If you are a transferware collector then you know all to well  how common it is to find a singular saucer or dinner plate on its own at a garage sale or thrift store that you don't know what to do with.   Have you ever heard of decoupage art?  Decoupage is simply the art of hand cutting graphics and decorating an object such as a plate, vase or a piece of furniture by gluing paper cut-outs onto it.  Decoupage is an inexpensive way of spicing up an old chest or extra china collection that you may have around the house with simple old fashioned paper, and glue.  With a little patience, you can cover a set of mis-matched plates with beautiful wallpaper or prints in no time.

Once you visit Beat-up Creations, you will see their hilarious sense of humor.  They have a fantastic collection of decoupaged china, in which they use orphaned antique plates and transform them into new modern portrait plates.   Create a centerpiece plate in your collections to display the fun side of your personality.

Bryonie Porter, is also well known for their decoupaged furniture. Using exquisite wall-paper designs, they take vintage attractive furniture and applyprints which would fool you into thinking they were hand painted much like chinoiserie furniture.If you have a blue transferware collection, consider wallpapering your favorite chest with toile wallpaper to add a unique flare to your favorite collection.

How to Decoupage A Transferware Plate

1.  Cuting out  the images is one of the most tedious parts of decoupaging.  For a professional look, it is important that you take the extra time to cut out crisp images.

Secondly, great graphics are needed.  Did you know that many wallpaper stores simply throw out their samples every few months?  When I lived in Virginia, many of the paint stores sold wallpaper, and every couple of months, books with dozens of stunning prints would go into the dumpster.

Libraries are another excellent resource.  Thousands of prints can be found there, and photocopied for your own personal use.  (Do look into copyrights if you plan on doing it as a professional hobby)

Do not use your original cutouts.  If you damage the original, you have no fallback, and many times to create a theme using a graphic most people use the same graphic in multiple places.  Most copy centers have laser printers which copies can made, deduced or blown up. Laser copies are less susceptible to ink bleed than ink jet copies.

On to Decoupaging Transferware........

1.  Lay out the pieces out as you would want them to look on your plate.   When you are happy with the way they look, you are ready to apply the glue.

1B. Make sure that your plate is  dry and free from any kind of dirt.

2.  Before applying the glue, submerge your piece in a bowl of water large enough to hold a single image and fill it with water. Let the  image "relax" until it stops curling and floats freely without wrinkles.   With a bit of glue on your fingers, lift the image carefully, and position the image on the glued surface.

When you’ve got all your images in place, gently spread the glue across the image.  Coating the piece with a coat of Mod Podge will give it a glossy look just like china.

On to Decoupaging Clear Plates........

1.  Pick out your images, and arrange them in a way that looks attractive on your plate.

2.  Apply a coat of decoupage to the back of your plate.

3.  Submerge your cut-outs of wallpaper into water.  Then submerge the image into a plate containing the glue Mod Podge and apply them to the plate.

4.  With a foam brush, apply a generous layer of decoupage glue over the cut-out pieces.

Helpful Decoupaging Tips

- Avoid decoupaging with thin paper.  Thin paper often wrinkles, and tears very easily.

-Many copy stores are capable of producing beautiful prints that can blown up to cover any large piece of furniture.

- Ink-jet photo copies smear when submerged in water and varnish products.

-Keep your hands wet or the paper will tear.

- Use a wet paint brush sponge and and work out excess glue, water, and air. Work outward from the center using a foam roller to flatten the surface and even out the glue under neath your print.

-Avoid bending or crumpling the print, as it gives the finished product a bumpy, ugly look.

-Within the first hour after the application, check your plate or furniture piece to smooth out any air bubbles with wet fingers. Let your furniture dry overnight.

After your piece completely dries within a 48 hour time period, you will need to apply a sealer. It is extremely important that your first coat is a water based polycrylic. If you use an oil based polyurethane, it will leave spots in your collage, and potentially ruin it.

Modge Podge seals collages which dries to a rock hard finish. It can also DOUBLE AS GLUE.  It can be used to glue your paper down and and seal your final piece. Modge Podge is available in Gloss, Satin and Mattefinishes. Mod Podge also has an excellent line of fabric glue.

While many people decoupage plates, some people enjoy decoupaging furniture.  After years of painting furniture, I had to learn the hard way that a water based polycrylic clear sealer is always the very best option on white painted furniture.  The first time I used an oil based polyurethane my beautiful white dresser had a yellow hue to it.  Over time, the polyurethane just gets darker.

Polycrylic comes in a satin and semi gloss, and gloss finish. It also comes in a beautiful spray, which makes it much easier to produce a clean even finish.  

Both polycrylic and Mod Podge are excellent products that seal furniture, but if you wish to additionally add an oil based spray lacquer, use it after you have applied 2 layers of polycrylic.

Acrylic lacquer avoids the yellowing problems associated with nitrocellulose lacquer. Acrylic resins go on crystal-clear and stay that way over time. The most widely used Acrylic lacquers is called CAB-acrylic lacquer, made with cellulose acetate butyrate and acrylic resin.

When his passion started becoming a full time job, he decided to open up his business in Manhattan's East Village. At the time, he hoped it would just pay the rent. Today he sells a collection of wares to 300 stores, including your local Target. John Derian's decoupage plates in New York are hand crafted, while his line for Target is mass produced for the public.

Pink Desk By Bryonie Porter

Blue Toile By Bryonie Porter Wallpaper by Timorous Beasties