Scrap Escape: DIY Home Decor Wooden Purse

Thursday, January 5, 2017

DIY Home Decor Wooden Purse - Petaloo

Refreshing and updating that old knick-knack

I had a cute wooden purse knick-knack that I bought at a thrift store. It was cute 10 years ago in a little girl's room but definitely needs some updated love and attention... and some Petaloo flowers to bring it back to life. I say, "Let's give tired purse a second chance at love". If you scroll down through this post, you'll find some helpful DIY tips as well to help make your projects
durable.

Now here's my big secret in refreshing and repurposing items. If at all possible, I try to salvage what I can and do as little painting as possible. My expertise is in decorating - not painting. I know painting can take a lot of time, effort and finesse. I do not have an abundance of any of those. So my philosophy is to work with what I have when possible - meaning no painting.

The Graphic 45 "Place in Time" collection had perfect papers and colors for this project and worked well with the purple and green in the purse. A project doesn't get much easier for me if I can leave the original paint alone.

Making your home decor durable

Another important aspect of home decor items is durability. When making home decor pieces, I always think about pieces being handled, touched, dusted, moved. Unfinished and untreated paper can become stained, get fragile, warp and the edges can rip. You can add durability to your home decor paper pieces by coating it with a clear matte finish.

I chose Mod Podge because that's what I had available, but you can make your own inexpensive finish by mixing white school glue and a bit of water and painting onto the project. You can also use a clear, matte gel medium.

The key to using these mediums as sealants and protective coatings is to make sure your edges are completely coated and adhered.

I do not use glue on the paper. I used the Mod Podge as glue. To do this, I make sure to add the Mod Podge to both the wood and the backside of the paper. Once the paper is down, it's important to smooth out all air bubbles with your fingers, brayer or such like that. Once satisfied, add a final layer of Mod Podge over the paper paying special attention to the edges making sure they are all secure.

Before adding my gorgeous Petaloo embellishments, I wanted to add lace to the project but I realized the paper is busy. In order to make my lace pop and give it some definition, I added a layer of paper behind it. This prevents the delicate lace from getting lost in the busy patterns and embellishments.

Here are some more close ups of the Petaloo flowers and finished project along with the backside of the purse. Here is a list of the Petaloo flowers that I added as perfect accents:

Petaloo Darjeeling Flowers - Anenome Purple

Petaloo Darjeeling Flowers - Purple Petites

Petaloo Darjeeling Flowers - Teastained Mini Butterflies

Petaloo Darjeeling Flowers - Mini Green Rosettes