Decoupage Tips

Decoupage from VICTORIAN CLIP ART   The images are large files, please give them time to load.  It will be very worth it.

This article appeared in McCall's Needlework & Crafts, Fall 1978.

Tips for creating your own decoupage using Victorian Clip Art by the Master Hiram Manning, A Boston Legend.  (click the images for a larger view.)

Hiram Manning is the author of "Manning on Decoupage," a complete how-to book published by Hearthside Press Inc. NY.



Hiram Manning's Townhouse.

Over the threshold and into another century...as magical as Alice's step into Wonderland is a visit to the Boston townhouse of Hiram Manning, America's master of DECOUPAGE. Above, the library, a glorious blend of color - scarlet. Venetian green, and gold - seems of another place, another time. Over the mantel a priceless Boucher painting from the 18th century reigns supreme. Cartouches of gold-leaved carved wood, complimented by chinoiseries depicting the "five senses of nature," the four seasons, the four elements, and the arts all testify to the decoupage artistry of Hiram Manning and his mother, Maybelle Manning, whose extensive collection of painted Venetian furniture reflects the probable orgin of European Decoupage.



Decoupaged Wooden Duck Decoy

The wooden decoy was discovered in a thrift shop, then transformed with paint and delicate clip art cutouts.



Decoupaged Antique Table and Chair

Valentines from long ago provide sweet designs for an antique table and chair.



Missy's Decoupaged Dog Bed.

Mr. Manning's dog, Missy, is very much at home in her decoupaged bed, which is a replica of one owned by Mme. Pompadour!

This year is a very special year for Hiram Manning, for it was 50 years ago that he, along with his mother, discovered the art of decoupage while on a school holiday in Normandy, France. His eyes sparkle anew at the memory..."My friend's manor was filled with beautiful painted and lacquered furniture, screens, boxes, trays, bibelots of every sort...it was like a glowing jewel box filled with opals; it was as though the rooms were lit with sunlight from within," he muses.

"Imagine our excitement when we learned the beautiful little 'paintings' were actually cut from paper and covered with coat after coat of lacquer!" he continues, his obvious joy of that long-ago discovery still very much a part of his life.

The Mannings spent years learning the original techniques from this wonderful French family who were the descendants of an earlier guild family. And, just as their friends had shared their art with them, the Mannings took their time to teach others and to introduce it to the United States, where today Mr. Manning is still the undisputed master of the art.

In this article there are just a few images of the many pieces he has decoupaged - pieces that indicate how simple everyday objects take on a whole new personality with the magic of decoupage. To create your own Decoupage Collection, see the following images with instructions.



The boxes above are a result of Hiram Manning following his own good advice, and with his very own drawings.

"Create today - our today! Do what you see as and how you see it! For a beginning, look around you and see and interpret what you look at. Think of something in your daily life - job, pastimes, pleasures, outings...and express it in decoupage. Instead of a coach and horse, thinks cars, airplanes, trains, ships, skateboards, computers!"

The basics of decoupage - coloring, cutting, gluing - are universal, but the art is singular; a decoupeaur uses them according to his own design.



Coloring: White pencil acts as a blender - put color on lightly, blend white, then add more color to highlight.



Cutting: The most important part of decoupage. Move the paper...feed it into the scissors; don't push into the paper.



Gluing: Always put your glue on the object to be glued, not on the paper. You want to be able to move your cutouts around easily.



Sponging: Use a damp sponge to remove excess glue from design surface; pat gently, so that glued cutout is not dislodged.



Bright bands of color streak across surfaces that gleam from coat after coat of shiny varnish.