Decoupage Sewing Drawer

Do you love easy thrift store projects? That’s what it’s all about today! I am sharing a decoupage sewing drawer for our monthly thrift store decor challenge. Be sure to check out all the projects my creative blogger friends are sharing today (links at the end of this post).

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Vintage Sewing Drawer

Because I collect junk, I always seem to have several vintage sewing drawers hanging around. So, technically this drawer didn’t come from a thrift store recently. There’s no telling how long I’ve actually had this vintage sewing drawer.

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Decoupage Sewing Drawer Materials

Materials for Decoupaging Sewing Drawer

• Sewing Drawer or other Thrift Store Item
• Paint (DIY Chalky Paint Primer is what I made)
• Plaster of Paris
• Chip Brush
• Mod Podge
• Foam Brush
• Pretty Hydrangea Napkins
• Aqua Brush (not pictured)

 Step 1

Mix your favorite paint with a little bit of Plaster of Paris. Always mix the POP with water before you add your paint.

You can find my chalky paint primer recipe here. It mixes up to be a very flat paint that will adhere to almost any surface without a lot of preparation. I use a lot of latex wall paint for my larger projects. In order to have a smaller quantity for smaller projects, I pour the wall paint into containers like this creamer container.

After mixing the plaster of paris with water, add paint and stir.

Paint Sewing Drawer

Step 2

Paint all sides of your sewing drawer (or thrift store item). A couple of light coats work best. I prefer using chip brushes because they clean up quickly and waste less paint.

Separate 3 Play Napkin

Step 3

Be sure to separate your napkin, using only 1 ply for decoupaging your vintage sewing drawer.

Cut Napkin in Half

Step 4

Prepare your napkins by cutting them to size with scissors.

Apply Mod Podge

Step 5

Apply the mod podge to your sewing drawer and carefully place the first portion of napkin on it. If you are careful, you have 1-2 chances to lift the napkin and readjust if needed.

You may want to dilute the mod podge with a little water. I worked with a wet foam brush for this step.

Apply Mod Podge to Top of Napkin

Step 6

Carefully apply mod podge to the top of your napkin. I prefer to “dab” it onto the napkin. Using 1 ply of the napkin makes it very thin and fragile, easily tearing.

Continue the Decoupage Process Adding More Napkins

Continue to apply Mod Podge and napkins on your entire project. I used the flat edge of a butter knife to carefully encourage the napkin to “stick” in the back corners of the sewing drawer.

The napkins used for this decoupage sewing drawer were beverage size. For these first steps, I only used 2 napkins. I’ll be very transparent here. I took a break because I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the ornate front of the vintage sewing drawer. After a good night’s sleep, I was back at it the next morning.

How to Decoupage Ornate Sewing Drawer Front

Step 7

Embellish the ornate front of the vintage sewing drawer. You could use an artist’s paint brush to paint the front with accent colors that match your napkin. I really can’t paint a lick, so I decided to decoupage the ornate front of the drawer.

To do this, I got out my aqua brush. Filling the brush with water wets the bristles and allows you to be more creative with tearing your napkin. The front of the sewing drawer ended up taking an entire napkin, due to a few careless operator errors.

I purchased the aqua brush last year when I was decoupaging napkins on a wicker basket.

Using the aqua brush, I wet the napkin around the edge of the large hydrangea flower. This made it much easier to tear away the part I wanted to use.

Cut Slits For Knob

Before applying any Mod Podge, I tested the fit of my flower pattern. I cut a few slits to allow the napkin to fit over the drawer knob. You may want to remove the knob or replace it altogether.

Use Small Brush to Apply Mod Podge

By using a small paint brush to apply mod podge it allowed me to put it only where I wanted it. I put it on the knob, but really should have avoided that area for the time being.

It doesn’t Have to be Perfect

At this point don’t worry about making it perfect. You can add patches later to disguise any imperfections.

I divided the napkin into pieces using the aqua brush and slowly added them to each corner of the sewing drawer. Notice the overlap around the knob area. The mod podge was only applied up to the edge of the round applique.

At this point the knob had not been decoupaged.

Tear Away Extra Napkin

Now it’s time to deal with the overhang you see. I used the aqua brush to outline the circle part of the applique. Wetting the napkin in that way made it easy to tear away the excess.

Finally, it was time to use a small scrap of napkin to cover the knob. Don’t be discouraged by how your project looks as you’re working on it. It truly will all come together in the end! Just remember to DAB the mod podge, don’t try to “spread” it with your brush or foam applicator. The napkin tears very easily.

I applied a couple of light coats of the Mod Podge over the entire sewing drawer, even the inside. Do you see the puppy hiding in the flowers?

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The decoupage sewing drawer can be used to hold toiletries, office supplies and more!

I’m so excited to see the results of all these great thrift store projects!

How to Make a Cement Pot
Decoupage Sewing Drawer
Antique Kitchen Tools for Spring
Create A Natural Raw Wood Look
DIY Coffee Pot Terrarium
Retro Canisters for Vintage Kitchen Decor
Decorative Candy Jar
DIY Footed Tray

ohhh, which one is your favorite? Please save and share this project on Pinterest!

gail