Everything old is new again.....{Faux Leather Deco. tutorial}

As I mentioned last week I have several projects in the works. One being a large file cabinet I snagged at a yard sale for $5.00!!!!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe it! I knew right away what I would do with it and how I would "transform it". I love when the piece screams at you and tells you right away what it needs. (Yes furniture and fabric to talk to me. Don't they talk to you as well?)

I thought I would document with photos how it went from sad to FAB and share the process, tips and tricks with you.

Faux Leather Decoupage Tutorial
Materials:

Mod podge - or watered down glue medium
sponge brushes
item to be transformed
Paper to layer over your item - I used brown shipping paper
paint - if necesary
Clear coat - optional

Step 1: Wiped all dirt/dust from my cabinet. I also suggest painting in this step as well if necessary. That way you don't have to worry about accidently getting paint on your mod podged area.

I painted the base of my cabinet and drawers because only the top would get decoupaged on.

($5.00 cabinet before)









Step 2: After my black paint had dried then the fun began! I wanted to go with a brown/black theme for my cabinet so I grabbed some brown shipping paper to use to cover the top. The was originally a wood laminate that had begun to chip and fall off. Hence the need to cover and re-do the top of it.

To keep covering the top as simple as possible I lined up the staight edge of the paper with the bottom edge of my laminate top. (pictured below) I tore a piece of brown paper in a random shape keeping in mind the length of the top and tearing it off so it barely over lapped the edges on both ends. (pictured below)
















Step 3: Working in sections, I put down a good layer of mod modge on my laminate top where the paper would lay. Then I repositioned the paper on top of the mod podge glue and saturated the paper with a layer of glue to keep it in place. Repeat the length of your paper working under the paper and then on top.













I definately got my hands "dirty". Fingers and hands can be the best tool for smoothing out the paper, applying pressure, and spreading the glue medium around. Make sure you put a good coat of glue on your paper so that is adheres to your base project.









Step 5: Continue to layer your paper pieces on top of each other in any sort of "pattern" you like.

Once I had all my pieces in place I added an extra coat of glue to "seal" the entire top. The easiest way to do that for me was to pour the mod podge from the bottle and use my hands to spread it around. This also allowed me to smooth out any bubbles and create "wrinkles" in the paper which would add more character to my "faux leather" looking top.












Step 6: Let dry. ****The paper will bubble as you get it saturated with the mod podge and as it dries. If you've done a good job smoothing out the bubbles as best you can, just step back and let it dry. The bubbles will look awful but give it a few hours (for a large project like this) and the paper *should* flatten itself out once it's dry. ****

Step 7: OPTIONAL - Add a clear coat over your decoupaged area letting it dry in between coats. I think between my husband and I we put on about 4 good coats on. The top now almost looks like it has glass over it. Very cool and very family friendly. Easy to wipe clean and protected from the rough and tumble of everyday life.

***Adding the clear coat will also bring out and darken any areas on your paper that were not completed saturated and sealed by the mod podge. Please be aware of this. I learned the hard way and ended up with several "spots" dotting the top. Although it turned out less than perfect from what I had hoped it would - sometimes mistakes can work too!***

You can add more paper to cover these spots too. One reason why I wanted to share this technique was to offer my tips/suggestions from the mistakes I made. :)
















And you are done!!!! I moved it into our Family room upstairs and have just begun to "accessorize" it.

Pretty good for $5.00 wouldn't you say?

Of course this same technique can be easily used for many other items and with other mediums. I would love to someday decoupage a large item with old maps!

Be sure to upload your photos from this project into the Brassy Apple Projects Flickr group!