Your Weekly Voilà: Cultivating a Creative Practice with Decoupage 😌✨🥚🦆

A few years ago, I decided to commemorate our April move to France by découpaging eggs. After all, the egg is an ancient symbol of new life. Each Easter, I now add a new design. They are easy to make, a simple craft requiring only a few supplies and a bit of patience. More importantly, I find the process allows me to let go of worries and create something small and without grand expectations. It's just a pretty piece of paper and the fun of sticking it on an egg.

The word découpage comes from the French word découpeur meaning to cut out. The craft has a long and fascinating history tied to a variety of cultures. It is believed that the origin of the art dates back to BCE in Eastern Siberia where cutout felt figures and motifs decorated tombs. In the 12th century, the art traveled to China and the practice there was to cut designs from paper.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, découpage flourished throughout Europe, especially in the French court. Even Madame de Pompadour and Marie Antoinette kept themselves amused by snipping pictures and applying them to hat boxes, wig stands, fireplace screens, and furniture. Traditionally, one would apply 30-40 layers of varnish in order to create a smooth surface. I have to admit that I don't have that level of patience. 3-4 layers works just fine for me. Découpage continues to evolve with a variety of techniques and possibilities.

You can use large chicken eggs or duck eggs which have a harder shell and provide a larger surface area to decorate. To begin, poke two small holes in an egg - one at the top and one at the bottom. I use a long needle to poke through the hole to break the yolk. This makes blowing out the egg much easier. All you do is pucker up and blow hard through the top hole, being careful not to crush the egg. Be patient. The contents will come out. Do a 1/2 dozen or so and you'll have enough to make a quiche for dinner. The hollow shells are then washed clean. I run a small stream of hot water into the hole and shake the water to clean the inside. Then, you gently blow out the water. All the blown eggs are set aside to dry before decorating.

You can dye your eggs prior to découpaging or use white eggs. If you cover the entire egg with paper, there is no concern if you use brown eggs. Just test to see if the design will still be distinguishable over the darker shell.

Whether you paint, write poetry, do needlework, garden, or glue paper onto an egg, cultivating a creative practice can add a beneficial element to your daily life. You don't need to identify as an artist. Just set aside as little as 15 minutes from your day-to-day stress and commitments to jot down some writing ideas, doodle, learn a new stitch, or cut out a few patterns from a paper cocktail napkin. Maybe daily is too ambitious. Then plan an hour once a week to steal away in a space all your own and make something.

A few tricks to help you establish your creative ritual:

1.) Have a small space ready for your practice. Keep it tidy and inviting. Have all your tools gathered together and ready to go. You'll talk yourself out of creating if you can't find what you need.

2.) Keep it simple. If you impose some sort of grand design or unreasonable expectation, you won't be able to explore and create freely. This is not about having to create a beautiful piece of art. This is about relaxing and having fun.

3.) Remember this is a practice. You have to work at fitting it into your life and making it a priority.

Creer, c'est vivre deux fois.
To create is to live twice.

- Albert Camus

I love to hunt for decorative cocktail napkins for their designs and thin paper. Gift shops at the chateaux are usually a treasure trove of options. Specialty gift stores are a great source too. The most tedious part of découpage is cutting out the patterns. Use small and sharp scissors with a pointed tip to help you get into small places. Take your time. Pull from the design your favorite parts. You want to use smaller pieces so to reduce the number of wrinkles when you glue it on the egg. Also, give a bit of thought as to how the pieces will come together on the surface of the egg . . . or not. It can be as planned out or as spontaneous as you want.

It's your creative practice.

There is no "right way" to a creative practice. You might like to have music playing or prefer peace and quiet. Perhaps you enjoy sketching in a park amongst others or to be alone in your studio. What we must not do is to compare ourselves with others. This is difficult in today's social media world. We hold our "art" to an unrealistic standard. We look at others and think, "I'm not artistic." Judgment will end your creative ritual and block inspiration from finding you.

There is a lot of art in the world. We can look to examples for inspiration. But keep your focus on the pen to paper, needle to fabric, colors of your palette, and make decisions from your heart rather than the rational part of your mind. Offer the world your own vision and voice.

Trust the process.

Know that we are all inherently creative.

Traditionally, Mod Podge is your "go-to" glue for découpage. If you don't have it, any white glue will work. Thin the glue with water to a consistency that works for you. People in the know say that the right recipe is 1 cup of glue to 1/3 cup of water. I prefer to paint with a fairly thin coat and so add a bit more water. However, you don't want the glue to be too thin as it will soak your paper and cause it to break apart before it adheres to the surface.

Pour your glue into a small container. Stir it so that it is smooth and flows easily. Be sure your napkin is separated from all its plies. You want the thinnest paper possible. Just when you think you are down to the last ply, you'll be surprised that there is one more hidden behind your design.

Brush the glue on the area of the egg where you want the design to go and carefully lay it in place. Use a small, old paintbrush saved for this purpose. This is not the time for the expensive brushes you use for your watercolors or oils. Carefully brush another layer of glue over the paper to seal it.

Now . . . my best advice here is to allow the section you just glued down to dry completely before adding another element. I have ruined more eggs than I care to admit because I thought I could do two sections at a time. Inevitably, my thumb finds its way to the tacky section and lifts off a part of the glued-down design. There is no good way to fix the resulting problem. So . . . work on two eggs or more at a time. Allowing one to dry completely before adding the next section.

After the coating is dry, I use very fine sandpaper - about 600 grit - to make the egg smooth. It comes in black sheets and I cut them into small pieces that fit well in my hand and can maneuver over the curve of the egg. This will polish the paper and you will not feel any ridges. After you have glued down all the paper, add as many topcoats as you desire, sanding between each one. You are going for an egg that feels very smooth in the hand.

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Explore, nourish, and cultivate your creative practice. It's how we process, invite inspiration, and make connections. Creativity loves to be shared. Make it a part of this spring season's emphasis on new beginnings.

Wishing you and your family a very Joyeuses Pâques -
joyous Easter and Passover.

À bientôt,
Karen ✨🕊🥚🇫🇷