I did this one as a way to redecorate my five year old daughter's room (which was before was just a pretty awful collection of mismatched furniture and Disney characters). I didn't/don't have money to buy her all new things so I decided to work with what I had.
What you'll need:
A dresser (we had an old one my mother in law had handed down to us)
Adhesive (I'll get to that later)
Patterned paper (I used scrapbook paper. I got a 6inX6in book, as shown in picture, for $4.99 at Michael's and a few individual 12in X 12in sheets for $0.29)
A foam brush (You can get packs at the dollar store but I used one from Micheal's, around $0.60 for one, because it was higher quality)
A paper trimmer (or scissors if you trust your ability to cut straight which I do not) - The paper trimmer is probably the most expensive craft tool I own but it's priceless.
An object for rolling out the bubbles in the paper, they make rollers for this but if you don't feel like buying something that's only purpose is roll out bubbles (which I certainly did not) you can actually use just about anything. You could use a baking pin or a candle. I actually used the Modge Podge bottle. ;)
Start by removing all of your drawers and whatever handles/knobs that may be attached.
Make sure your dresser is freshly painted if you plan to leave any areas uncovered. At the very least it must be wiped down as any dust or debris will cause bubbles in your paper.
I recommend cutting all of your paper pieces and laying them out how you'll want them so you know they'll fit. Once they are on there they are hard to remove if you find you can't make your pieces fit, though you can always overlap pieces.
After you have all your pieces ready it's time for the adhesive. Ideally you would want to use Modge Podge for all decoupage projects but on a item this size that can get a little pricey. I used a mixture of Elmer's Glue All and water. Basically you just pour a whole bottle of glue in a bowl and then slowly add water. The ratio should be 3 parts glue to one part water. You want it be soupy. I used this mixture to apply all of pieces and go over them. At the end I put a coat of Modge Podge Gloss on top for aesthetics purpose though the Elmer's mixture is certainly good enough.
So coat each area with your glue mix, it dries relatively quickly so only coat the area in which you are about to place your piece. Then coat the back of your paper. You can dip the paper in the glue mix which will make it much more pliable but being that you are essentially dipping your paper in water it also makes it much more fragile. So if you decide to go this route (it can give you much better results but I would recommend practicing this before you decide to apply this technique to something you will probably have to look at for quite some time) you have to be quite careful. Then apply the piece to it's designated area. Repeat this process about a thousand times until eventually you have the whole thing covered (it took me about 3 days). Once everything is applied you will want to put 2-3 coats of adhesive over the top. Wait at least twenty minutes in between each coat.
So overall this is a relatively easy project that can turn old furniture into adored furniture if you have the patience and time to do it. However, when I was doing mine I did run into a few snags that none of the posts on Pinterest felt the need to warn me about....
Well, really it was only one problem but it plagued me repeatedly so it felt like lots of problems...
The edges.
The tutorial I viewed said that after applying all the paper then you should use an exacto knife to cut off any extra. This did not work for me. My exacto knife was slightly dulled so with the paper being damp it tore more than it cut, therefore ruining the whole piece and forcing me to cover it up. So I gave in and got a new one. Then I found myself incapable of cutting them straight (its harder than it looks).
So I took a couple different routes, depending on what the area allowed.
A. Line up all the pieces perfectly before hand so you don't have to cut them later. This works well for a patchwork look or if you're only using a few pieces (view 2 top drawers), but some of my areas are put together with a degree of unsymmetrical randomness (view 2 lower drawers and sides).
2. For more of a jigsaw approach like my aforementioned areas I opted for overlapping. I lined up all of edges, as to avoid cutting, and overlapped pieces in the middle to make up for measurement irregularities. This approach is by far the easiest.
My next issue was again the edges. On some pieces (see where the sides meet the drawers) I opted to fold over. This turned out to look great but the problem was that the glue was not strong enough to hold the smaller side down. On some of these I was a able to apply a ton of glue mix and an equal ton of physical pressure to finally get them to stay down. On the rest, I just said screw it and used a teensy tiny bit of hot glue (you have to smooth it down super fast so it doesn't dry with a bubble but it sure as hell stayed in place ;) ). You can avoid this all together by opting not to fold over. Just cut new pieces or leave those areas blank. Both are a viable options.
So, now that I had all the issues straightened out I was so happy with the finished product. I was so excited that my little girl was finally going to have a room that I would like to look at it! Then as I was putting the drawers back in place I realized one major mistake. I had taken on of the pieces and written a little note to my little one that said "I love you everyday. - Mom.". I was proud of this too. Then I realized I must have been holding the drawer upside down when I was working on it because my little note was the wrong side up! In the end I decided to leave it that way, both because I just didn't feel like redoing it and because I think its the kind of mistake she'll appreciate one day. Knowing that her mama made this with her hands and having the proof inside that silly mistake will only had value to it in the long run. So don't get too upset if you mess up in spots (unless your planning on selling it, in which case you should probably read a more professional tutorial LOL) the love shows through in the mistakes!
So this is my little Mia's room now. Still working other pieces for the walls but I'm pretty happy so far! I wish I had pictures of it before, it was so awful! Pepto Bismol pink walls, ugh! Stay tuned for more kid's room decor and lots more!
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