decopatched letter
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Decopatch in action – Letter decoration

I used to be a crafter.  Before children.  When I had plenty of time.

I started off card making and sold some through work and friends (my mum bought a lot, and my OH is known to have given me cards that I’ve made, for my birthday!).  I then moved on to jewellery making, and set up a bit of an informal business to sell my wares.  Of course, I just don’t have time now, plus there’s so many jewellery makers out there, you have to be niche or just a good marketer to really stand out.

But I do like to try a few different crafts out and occasionally I’ll dabble in what Hobbycraft have to offer to try something new.  Decopatch is something I’ve done a little bit of in the past.  One year I upcycled and decopatched some bangles for gifts which worked out really well.

We still haven’t decorated N’s bedroom, although I’ve made a few pictures to hang up (still not hung), but I bought a letter N for decopatching a while ago.  As we’re pretty keen on blue in our house, the chances are N’s room will have blue touches of some sort in it.  I also wanted something fairly ageless rather than infant patterns so chose papers in denim pattern.

decopatch letter items.

Decopatch is really simple and any age can do it. You need:

  • an item to decopatch. I had one of the specific letters, but you could just have a box or any item that’s not varnished (if it is, just sand it a bit first to help the glue stick
  • Papers – Decopatch is the brand name and the papers can be quite expensive, but then I only used half of 1 piece of the paper (pack of 3) to cover the one letter, so it does go a long way.  You could in theory use any thin paper, but the paper meant for this is really thin.
  • Brush – whatever size works for you.  This was one I found and the flat type worked really well to get into the corners
  • Glue/varnish – I have decopatch glue/varnish, but there’s various different types you can get. The alternative (especially if you’ve got children using it and don’t want to spend lots if they’re going to knock it over and slop it about) is to water down some pva glue and that should work ok.  You won’t get the ‘varnished’ finish on it though.
decopatching a letter

You just rip up the paper into small pieces, then area by area, brush on some glue, then lay on the paper pieces, and smooth over with the glue again.  You don’t need much for it to stick, and by overlapping you tend to avoid too many creases.  If you’ve got a lighter background to your papers, you might need a couple of layers, but with this, I was ok with 1 main layer and a few pieces overlapping over the top where needed.

making decopatch letter.

I love that even if you’re not the neatest crafter, decopatch will usually look really impactful.  If you need to you can clear varnish over, but I didn’t need to.  I decided it looked a little flat on its own, so I added a bit of bling.  Ok, I know it’s for N, but he’ll like the sparkle too.

denim decopatched letter

Now all we need is a shelf put up for this to sit on with his other nick nacks.

Have you ever done any decopatch before?  What crafts do you enjoy?

I’m linking up to the Parenting Pin Up Party.  Go and check out what other creations people have been making.

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22 Comments

  1. This is something that I really want to try! Thanks for linking up to this weeks #parentingpinitparty

  2. OOhh this looks really good. I only know decoupage which always looked really old lady and a bit kitsch, but this I could enjoy doing! Pinning it right away! #supermommyclub

    1. Ha ha, I know what you mean. Old style, lots of layered floral pop outs cards, not good. But this is much more contemporary, especially with the different papers you can get. Thanks for stopping by

    1. In theory it should do, but I don’t think tissue paper is always run free/can tear. We used tissue to make some ‘pumpkin’ tealight holders – they were ok, but not great. You could try it and see

  3. I absolutely adore Decopatch and will happily spend hours cutting and sticking and varnishing. It’s a very sociable activity, easy to combine with watching a film with older children and always ends up looking great. My youngest and I bought a kit for one of his older brothers (a head for the wall) and did all the decopatching for him-a great excuse to buy one of the larger sets.

  4. I tried decopatch before but think my mistake was not to rip the paper up into smaller pieces first. I made a right mess!

    1. Mmm, too big they’ll not flap over, although i do mine different sizes. I’m too lazy to spend too much time, and smaller pieces mean more work!

  5. Great idea – i have so many papers at home. I just need the letters and I think I am going to do an S & D for our anniversary for my husband 🙂 Thank you for inspiration

    PS – thanks for linking up with #blogsRus linky!

  6. Lovely! I’ve used this technique to cover small items, like a kiddy toy chest with the help of my daughter, who loves anything that includes glue!
    It’s such a fab technique. There is a chest of drawers in my bedroom I’d love to decoupage but haven’t pulled up the nerve to do just yet!

  7. I can relate to your crafting endeavors. I too started with cardmaking and now make jewelry (and sitll cards too). NOne for biz though. I’ve never tried decopatch, and fear I’d tear up the paper if I did try it, but I’m going to give it a shot.

  8. Ooooh i used to make cards too! I love this! Never tried it but fancy having a go!

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