Item Ideas

• Almost anything that glue will stick to can be decoupaged. Liven up a plain lampshade with some decoupage for a distinctive, personal touch in your teen's room. Add decoupage to frames, such as a mirror frame, picture frame or around the edge of a bulletin board. Decorate your son's workspace by adding decoupage to storage boxes, tin cans or other containers that hold pencils and pens, and even his wooden stool or chair. Other furniture may also be decoupaged, such as a side table or the front of dresser drawers. Decoupage a plain clock or create a work of original art by decoupaging a blank artist's canvas, which you can buy already mounted at most craft stores.
  
  

Approach

• There are two ways to approach a decoupage project. The first is to create a design reminiscent of a collage. The second is to create a planned design. In the first, paper or fabric usually is chosen for its colors and shapes. If you want to decoupage the top of a bench in black and hot pink to match your daughter's room, for example, you may choose bits of paper or fabric that have different shades and patterns of those colors. Paper or fabric used for planned designs is usually chosen for its subject matter. For example, if you want to decoupage flowers onto a lampshade, you may choose photos of flowers taken from a botanical magazine. Printed words may also be used. Materials may be taken from magazine pages, wallpaper samples or even scraps from a recycling or fabric bin.
  
  

Method

• To create a decoupaged decoration for your teen's room, first measure the object. Then, choose and cut the paper or fabric. If you are using an object, such as a decorative tree, word or skyline, cut as closely and carefully around the object as you can. Clean the object and then coat the back of each piece of paper or fabric with decoupage medium. This is a special type of glue that is usually sold in craft stores specially for use in decoupage projects. Press the paper or fabric firmly onto the object, smoothing out any air bubbles with a foam roller or brush. When you are finished, cover the entire object with a thin layer of the decoupage medium. Let it dry completely and then cover it with another layer of acrylic sealant for added protection.
  
  

Considerations

• Teens usually have strong opinions of what they like and don't like. Decoupage is a good choice for transforming something they don't like — for example, a pale pink mirror frame — into a much more trendy-looking work of art. On the other hand, teens are also known for changing their minds as fast as trends change. Unfortunately, once an item is decoupaged, it is difficult to change it. For that reason, choose your items carefully. You probably don't want to decoupage anything valuable or traditional, such as your teen's wooden hope chest that has been handed down from generation to generation or her antique bed that once belonged to your grandmother.