I've finally finished the second chair make-over and as requested here's a little 'how to' so you can rescue some chairs too!
Firstly you need your chair:
Sand it and paint it your chosen colour. I used a Fired Earth paint in 'Moonlight' which is white with a hint of light green:
I did two coats of paint but I wouldn't worry too much about the finish on the top of the chair as this will be covered with the decoupage.
Next you need your napkins:
I use the Cath Kidston 3 ply napkins as they take really well to decoupage and I'm loving the prints. You also need a pot of Mod Podge which you can get from Hobbycraft or online:
I use the Matte Mod Podge as I don't want a gloss appearance on the chair but you can buy Mod Podge Gloss (I have never tried this). Mod Podge is a glue and a sealer so I don't need to varnish the finished chair :o)
Lightly sand the top of the paint on the chair so the mod podge has something to grip to, only needs a couple of rubs with the sand paper so don't worry about more sanding hell (yes I do hate it that much).
Now to the napkins. You only need to use the printed part of the napkin so peel away the two blank sheets (if using 3 ply):
Once you sorted the napkins let the sticking begin! Apply a thin layer of mod podge to the area you are working on:
Then place your napkin. As I'm using a repeating pattern I used a whole napkin to start off the seat:
I made sure the napkin overlapped the edge to give it a seamless appearance on the front of the chair. You will get air bubbles as per the picture above so I use a dry cotton cloth to flatten out the bubbles and the creases - just dab the cloth on the napkin lightly so not to tear it. Even if you do have some creasing this is a shabby chic chair so adds to the effect (always have an excuse for any mistakes lol).
Once the first sheet is down you can then cut and paste the remainder of the seat - like wallpapering you just cut the next napkin design so it links up to the already pasted bit. For the gaps in the spindles i take a piece of napkin and mark where the spindles are and the cut out the spindle spaces (looks like a comb when cut) and slide the napkin in the spaces. The seat sides can be done by using strips of napkin and fixing the seam with mod podge under the chair base.
For the spindles I cut long strips of napkin:
and apply glue to the front of the spindle and place the strip down the middle (doesn't matter is strip is not straight as demonstrated in this picture lol):
You can then fold the napkin around the back and overlap it neatly (make sure you have applied mod podge to the back when doing this). I then use a little mod-podge to seal the seam by dabbing it on lightly. Remember to use you cloth to smooth out any bubbles or unwanted wrinkles.
For the chair back sides I also use wider strips of napkin and again wrap it around as above:
Keep going until you've covered the whole chair, by the time you've done this the base glue will be dry so you can cover the chair with the first top coat of mod podge. Give a generous covering, it will look white but dries clear. Leave this to dry and then you can do your second coat. I do 3 coats of mod podge on top of the napkin so it will hopefully hold up to use :o)
This is the finished chair:
As for those who didnt see the other chair:
And that's it! I've never done a 'How To' before so sorry if this is complete rubbish but if you want any help just ask :o)
I'm now on the look out for 2 more chairs like this so I've got enough to go round my dining table, I'll be checking the sales area at the tip again next time I go.
Busy weekend for me with a table top sale, a spring fair and the boot sale so hoping for lots of bargains to share with you all (hopefully no grannies will be harmed in my thrifty exploits!) - send me your lucky thoughts.
Happy Weekend all
Scarlett x
