How To Decoupage With Crackle Finish On Glass Bottle

How To Decoupage With Crackle Finish On Glass Bottle

Today’s post is a follow up of the decoupage technique series that we started a couple of weeks ago.

This time, we’ll add new materials and on top of that, we’ll combine a new technique together with decoupage and that’s the crackle technique. More specifically, with this post I’ll teach you how to decoupage with crackle finish on a glass bottle so that you get a beautiful and unique antique effect.

There are quite a few crackles and each one of them is used in different way. My suggestion is to use materials from the same company, when possible, so that the chemicals of the materials are not too different with each other.

I had the “pleasure” of an unsuccessful crackle in the past, when I tried to combine materials from different brands. So, make sure you’ve exhausted all options before buying products from different brands.

Today we’ll work with the crackle of a component. In a future post, we’ll decorate a bottle of our choice and will be able to use it either as a decorative or usable object, just like any other water bottle.

If you remember from my previous post, I would highly recommend that you work on this technique by using a bottle that you won’t be sad to experiment on. So make sure that you won’t miss it if you don’t succeed in your first attempt with this technique. Find cheap surfaces and materials for your first attempts.

I try to have all the materials and tools on the table and ready to use, so that I can use them immediately when I need them. That being said, it’s good to have kitchen paper and pure alcohol to clean the surfaces of my objects from smudges or fingerprints, craft scissors, paper towels, and a jar filled with water to clean my brushes.

The basic materials that we need are the following:

Bottle glass

A glass bottle, normal size

You can choose any napkin you like. I tend to prefer napkins with small patterns. Big patterns in curved surfaces make creases more easily and they don’t give you a uniform effect.

You need to have a variety of napkins. They’re cheap and of course, they will be the ones that will decorate your object. For each object you can use a combination of 2 or 3 different napkins.

You won’t have trouble finding any glue since there are many available online and in many local shops. Quality of glue is more or less the same for all brands.

Crackle Glue of one component

There are crackle glues of one or two components. Keep in mind that these aren’t the same. The application of the glue as well as its technique, it depends on the brand you buy. If the crackle glue is different brand than the colors you’re using, your crackle might not be successful. For this reason, it’s highly advisable to read through the instructions on each glue and determine how to use each one of them you decide to buy.

I use the above two materials as a basis for the rest of the materials. One representative example is the acrylic paints. The acrylic primer is more free-flowing than the gesso and it’s used on surfaces such as glass or metal. The gesso is viscous and is used in most porous surfaces such as wood or tile.

The Acrylic paints are used just like all colors. They are water based which means that water is more than enough to clean our brushes.

Beard in mind that once the acrylic paint is dry it can no longer be removed.

We can paint some parts of our pattern with acrylic paint or dab the surface with a sponge so that our background blends with the pattern of our color. This will give you a beautiful stone washed effect.

For this project we’ll use two colors. A dark one to be used as the basis color and a lighter one, right after we finished applying the crackle on our object. You can use any colors you like but make sure that the colors match the background and the napkin pattern.

Now, the materials that we’re going to use for decorating our object can be summarized as follows:

Patina

The patina can be used to give some extra shine to the drawing. Put a very small amount on your fingers and spread patted. Depending again on the pattern that we have, we choose the color of Patina accordingly.

Glitter

You can use glitter to point out some lines in the object or in the drawing.

You can find beautiful ribbons and laces in various colors and qualities. Satin, silk, velvet etc. They will give great results in the design of your bottle. You can put a small piece at the bottleneck and/or few in the pattern. They’ll give your bottle a romantic and vintage effect.

Various objects

Metal objects, buttons, handmade flowers, glitter, etc.

The tools we’re going to need:

The tools we need: bottle, decoupage glue, acrylic paints, primer

Let’s get started!!!

STEP 1

Before I begin I should make sure that my object is clean and there’s no adhesives left from labels, smudges etc. If it’s not clean, use a piece of paper and alcohol.

I already have all my materials close to me and ready to use.

I start by cutting the napkin with scissors and only the pattern that I want to apply on my object. Remove the back sheet of the napkin and keep only the front one that has the pattern.

STEP 2

I spread the primer well over the entire surface of my bottle. I use a medium sized brush to apply easily.

Then I let it dry and I don’t do anything else until it completely dries.

STEP 3

I apply the dark acrylic paint around the entire bottle. You’ll see on the next step that right after I apply the crackle, the color that I’m applying is going to be visible through the cracks that appear along the way.

I leave my bottle again to dry thoroughly.

STEP 4

Now it’s time to apply the crackle around the entire bottle. Be careful not to apply too much of it since it might create drops on your object. For this reason, I make one pass with the crackle on the bottle.

Depending on how you make the passes, you should expect to have the respective “cracks” (or breaks). If I apply the crackle vertically, you should expect to have vertical cracks of the crackle.

Depending on the direction and the amount of crackle you apply, you’ll have big or small cracks at the respective direction.

TIP: If we use the crackle without any paint and primer, the cracks will be transparent.

STEP 5

When my bottle is thoroughly dried, it’s time for some fun.

I put a lot of light color on aluminum foil and then I immerse a sponge in it. Slowly and carefully, I apply the color on my bottle by dabbing the sponge on it. Dab tight so that the color is applied everywhere on your bottle. This is a very important step since the color creates a reaction with the crackle and begins to “crack”.

STEP 6

This is the time that I begin gluing the napkin patterns one by one.

As mentioned earlier, the patterns need to be small so that there are no creases when you apply them on the bottle.

The process here differs a bit from the technique we discussed on a previous decoupage post.

First, I apply a little bit of glue where I’m planning to apply the napkin pattern. It has too be just enough so that there’s a bit of moisture on the bottle.

Then I put carefully the napkin pattern on my bottle and press the pattern gently with my finger so that it sticks. This way, it sticks perfectly and it doesn’t tear. Continue in the same way with the other patterns that you’d like to apply on your bottle.

Next thing I do is to make a few passes on the pattern with the brush and glue. You want to apply the glue radially from the center towards the edges of the pattern. Don’t apply too much adhesive since there’s a danger that the brush tears the napkin.

For my object, I used two base patterns, one on each side of the bottle, and some smaller ones, I applied them in various locations.

STEP 7

After completing the application of the patterns on my bottle, it’s time for me to begin with the decoration.

Once you decorate the bottle with the materials that you want, e.g. glitter or laces, I apply water varnish for durability. I make only one pass and I leave it to dry for one day. The next day, I make another varnish pass.

All set! Enjoy your beautiful creation with an antique effect.

Your new/old bottle with crackle effect is ready!

Next time, we’ll change the material of our object and we’ll decoupage on wooden object. Let me know your thoughts!

How do you like this decoupage technique with crackle finish?

Original article and pictures take fairypin.com site