Decoupaged 18th Century Chest

I have always liked decoupage but my projects never turned out the way that I had envisioned them. After reading the decoupage section in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts I decided to give decoupage one more try.

My daughter Brittany's friend Mitch was the inspiration for this project. Mitch collects Marie Antoinette memorabilia. On their trip to Versailles Mitch was disappointed that the only collectibles were pictures of Marie Antoinette. He told Brittany that he wished he could find something that he could display on a table. Brittany knew that I wanted to do another Marie Antoinette project and was looking for an idea. I had just recently finished reading a book about Versailles and decided to do a small chest that resembled some of the chests in the book. I decided to replace the painted images on the top of the Versailles chests with a decoupaged picture.









I used Jolee's dimensional stickers for the trim.





The frame was cut using Cricut Home Decor and card stock. It was then painted with metallic gold acrylic paint and sealed with Modge Podge.

Directions:

1. Lightly sand a pre-sanded wooden chest to remove any rough spots. Wipe the piece down with a damp cloth to remove dust. Paint the chest with Folk Art Italian Sage acrylic paint. Let the chest dry over night then apply a second coat of paint.

2. Paint the trim with Dazzling Metallics Elegant Finish Venetian Gold acrylic paint. Let the chest dry over night then apply a second coat of paint.

3. Scan a picture of Marie Antoinette and print on glossy photo paper (I used an inkjet printer). The printed picture is approximately a 2 1/2 inch oval. Carefully trim around the edges of the picture. Apply the picture to the top of the chest using a foam sponge and a very thin coat of Modge Podge. Using light pressure roll a brayer over the top of the image to remove any air bubbles. Let the image cure for about a week and then lightly sand it with very fine sand paper. Wipe with a damp cloth to remove any dust and let it dry. Apply a second coat of very thin Modge Podge and brayer the image. Let it cure for about a week. Since I was working under humid conditions I let the piece sit for a week between coats of Modge Podge to be sure that the piece was completely dry.

4. Using a foam sponge and Modge Podge lightly coat the entire chest to seal it. Let it dry completely and then seal it again.

5. Using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge and cream card stock cut an oval frame at 2 1/2 inches. Paint the frame gold and when it dries paint it again. After the frame is dry lightly coat it with Modge Podge to seal it. When the Modge Podge dries glue small pearls around the edges of the frame.

6. Glue the dimensional stickers to the top, sides and front of the chest. Glue the frame around the picture of Marie Antoinette.

Tip: Instead of a traditional palette and disposable palette paper try using a large glazed ceramic tile. They are available from Home Depot for about $1.50 per tile. They clean up with soap and water.

History As Art

I love history especially 18th century French History and I am always looking for ways to incorporate history into my art work. Since I've always been intrigued with Marie Antoinette I decided to do a project devoted the much maligned Queen of France.

I simply don't have the studio space to keep all of my finished projects so I often give them away. I would rather send the finished work off to someone who will display it rather than box it up and store it in my basement. My daughter Brittany asked her friend Mitch if he would like my Marie Antoinette project? Mitch is also intrigued with Marie Antoinette and knows even more about her than I do. He is such a fan of Marie Antoinette that he volunteered to take it sight unseen. I have enjoyed working on this project. Now that I'm finished I am going to miss Marie but I did promise to send this to Mitch and he is patiently waiting to receive it.




Here are the directions for the Marie Antoinette project:

Print a picture of Marie Antoinette on glossy photo paper. Mine was wallet size (2 1/2 by 3 1/2).

Cut a mat out of card stock 1/4 inch larger (on all sides) than the picture.

Cut a piece of white card stock 4 inches by 5 1/2 inches. Emboss the card stock using the embossing folder of your choice. I used Sizzix damask and medallions.

Cut another mat out of the same color card stock as the first mat making it 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the embossed white card stock.

Cut a piece of patterned paper 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches.

Using the Cricut Home Decor cartridge cut a 1 inch crown out of white card stock. Cover the card stock with glue and sprinkle gold micro beads over it. Shake off the excess and let it dry.

Using a small fleur de lys paper punch and gold textured paper punch four fleur de lys. Glue a small pearl in the center of each fleur de lys.

Glue the photo to the smaller mat. Then glue this to the embossed card stock. Glue this to the last mat. Attach the matted picture to the patterned paper using dimensional glue dots.

Glue the fleur de lys in the corners of the embossed mat. Make a small bow with purple ribbon and glue it to the top of the embossed mat, centering in between the fleur de lys.

Glue the crown to the patterned paper above the picture. Add small pearls to embellish the crown.

Trim the stems of three calla lilies and use one of the trimmed off pieces to wire the lilies together. Use a dimensional glue dot to attach the lilies to the of the embossed mat. Tie a bow with sheer white ribbon and use dimensional glue dots to attach the bow to the lilies.