Ok – gonna give this a go, creating a Beetle on a Chest Of Drawers. First job, get your image and get it enlarged on a Laser Printer. The image has to be good quality to enlarge a lot… I have had to switch to a newer model of Beetle! 1970’s – still cool.
You might notice there’s a scalpel on the table – I find it much easier to cut with this than a craft knife say, but hey, whatever you’re comfortable with
Materials I used on this project (you might not need all of these bits but I thought I’d list everything I used)
An enlarged laserjet photocopy from my local printer (Ditto in Sevenoaks)
Scalpel (or craft knife)
Annie Sloan Old White
Annie Sloan Graphite
Sandpaper – 80, 100 and 120grit
Annie Sloan Decoupage Varnish
Clear Wax
Dark Wax
Brushes
Cuprinol Wood Filler
Cut out the beetle – I then cut each section out – i.e. drawers and the bits between drawers, it’s much easier to cut when dry. If you try to cut after you’ve applied the Decoupage Varnish, you will find it rips.
I took the handles off. On this particular chest it left large holes which would need to be filled
I used this 2 part mix from Cuprinol, it has great strength and dries really quickly
To get a nice flat finish, I always overfill the holes and then sand down
I then gave the whole chest a once over with some Annie Sloan Old White
then it’s just a matter of sticking on the image with Decoupage Varnish…in the right position of course… tricky…
I use Annie Sloan Decoupage on the surface of the chest and also on the image side of the paper, this allow me a small window of time to get any bubbles out and gets a really good connection between the image and the surface. Once I’ve stuck my images face down and they’re in the right position and most of the air bubbles have been squeezed out I let it dry overnight
The next morning I like to get hot and soapy!
I use a combination of kitchen sponge, sandpaper and my fingers…
..to slowly work off the paper…
until all that’s left is the image. You may find when it dries there’s a misty white look to it – this is excess paper which you can gently and patiently work off. However when you wax, this helps a stronger image come through.
This is how it finished up – I did have some ‘holes’ in my transfer which I had to touch up with Annie Sloan Old White mixed with Graphite and I also had the problem of what to do with the knobs – I decide to keep them in the standard positions but try to blend them in with the beetle as much as poss, tricky but not too bad. I finished with Annie Sloan Clear Wax and because I like my pieces to look like they have a bit of age to them I also did another coat with Clear and Dark. #dovetails #vwdrawers #dovetailsvintage #anniesloan #upcycle #unfolded #chalkpaint #morethanpaint #sevenoaks #paintedfurniture #paint #decoupage #transfer #beetle #vw