How To Decoupage A Papier Mâché Steed Head

My husband always jokes that if I let something sit long enough, I’m either going to monogram it, or decoupage it. I can’t say he’s far from the truth. I love to work with all kinds paper, and I love to bring new life to otherwise plain things.

Recently, I took on the challenge of decoupaging the head of a papier-mâché steed. It came white, which on a dark wall would look fabulous. But where I wanted it was on a white wall, and too, I didn’t want just an ordinary white deer head. Of course, I wanted to decoupage it. Only fitting, right?!

I bought this steed head from one of my favorite decor stores, with the intention of decoupaging it with a red paper that had a small pattern in it. Though I wasn’t finding what I had in mind as quickly as I wanted, and became too eager to get the deer covered.  So, I found a paper I kind of / sort of liked and quickly covered it.

And I didn’t do a very good job.  The antlers looked crummy, and whenever I looked at it, I wasn’t feeling the love.

Fast forward a a couple months, and  I found the exact paper on ebay that I wanted to cover the deer.

Off with the old, and on with the new.  A tedious project, yet wasn’t near as difficult nor as messy as I would have thought.  With the help of a damp rag, I was able to remove that paper tiny piece by tiny piece.

I cleaned the deer well, then decided to spray paint the antlers instead.  I placed the head inside a box to contain some of the residual spray.

Once the paint was dried, I began to decoupage with the new wallpaper.  Here are the basic materials you will need, and what I use for every decoupage project.

The process was a little tricky since the wallpaper was on the thicker side, but I got it on there.  I brushed the Modge Podge on both the deer and the paper, then affixed the paper. I applied the glue to both because the paper was thicker than average, and the angles of the deer were tricky.

After the deer was completely decoupaged, I sprayed it with clear enamel to protect the surface.

And voila!

This goes to show that just about anything can be decoupaged. Check out how I decoupaged a serving tray, making it look like new again!