Decoupaged Wooden Pig DIY

A few weeks ago, I popped into a thrift shop, for the first time in over a year.

It was a lovely little spot, overflowing with treasures of all kinds.

In less than 15 minutes, I'd loaded up my arms and was heading for the door. It was a brief trip, but I still ended up with almost too much to carry.


It was a good, good day.

Since then, I've been playing with my purchases. Envisioning what they could be, where they could shine and how I could improve them.

For me, the dreaming is the best part.

A few of my fun finds have already received makeovers. A black and white cow piggy bank was the first.

He turned out so well, I decided to stick with the farm animals and move on to this little wooden pig.

FYI- You can catch a video of my process on Instagram. 


When I originally shared him, I mentioned that he was perfectly perfect as is. And he was. I just wanted to take him up a notch.

His black and white color scheme was classic, but a little too farmhouse for this cottage style girl.

I craved a softer look. Something with flowers perhaps...

So, I hit Amazon and found the perfect napkins and started working on my vision.

I often use napkins to transform thrift treasures. 

At Christmastime on glass or wood.
During fall with splatter screens.
And old glass cutting boards. 

Now, as a little aside here, I have to tell you, I didn't start out napkin shopping on Amazon. I mean I don't normally look for napkins online since, they're available everywhere in person.

Or they used to be anyway.

I was shocked when I went into the stores and found that most of my go to's were no longer carrying them.

Oh sure, there were a few fall cocktail napkins...a couple of pumpkins, a wreath of leaves, Happy Fall in orange letters, but other than that nothing.

It didn't take me long to realize that things had changed and online was my best bet.

I started out by painting my little friend to give him a good base color.  

Once I found these lovely rose napkins, I got to work on a dark evening, before an expected hurricane. Tis the season.

Before we get started, I wanted to mention that if you are not into DIY but love the look you can get something similar online. These darling minis are close. 

And, you don't have to cover wooden pigs, you can cover any wooden animal you like this way. Etsy has a ton of bare wood ones ready to go. Some are very thin others are thicker, but there's a variety to choose from...


I started my process by opening up my napkins and removing both underneath layers. This part can be tricky, since the first layer is usually very easy to see.

However, sometimes there's a sneaky layer that almost feels bonded to the printed top layer. Make sure to remove that as well or you'll have trouble later.

The Mod Podge will cause them to separate midway through and then you'll have a mess.

Once that part was accomplished, this DIY was relatively straightforward. Well, to start anyway.

I used a foam brush to apply the decoupage gel to the wood and then placed my napkin on top. Then I smooth the napkin out with my fingers and then with my hand in a plastic bag.

Easy, right?

Well, not really, you see the legs moved and there were odd spaces, so I had to patch.


Thankfully this pattern was very forgiving. I was able to cut a piece out of another part of the napkin that matched and patched it in.


It was simple task. I just added more Mod Podge and placed the paper on it and cut away any of it that was too long or too large.

When my pig was completely covered with roses, I turned him over and cut away any of the the excess napkin with an exacto craft knife.

(ps- if you missed any of the supplies here, you can always check my Amazon shop for details)

It's the same knife I used when I cut in the contact paper and peel and stick wallpaper in my pantry.

It's a great little tool, you must be very careful with it though and make sure to use a fresh, sharp blade for best results.

 

When the body was set, I repeated napkin/ decoupage process on the the legs.


Then I grabbed my foam brush and gave the entire wooden piece a fresh coat of Mod Podge...very carefully, so the napkin didn't move or tear.

Again, I took a plastic ziplock baggie and used it as glove to smooth out all the wrinkles and bumps. The plastic trick works great - especially on wood.
 
It keeps your tacky fingers from getting stuck on the napkin. It just slides across the top, without disrupting the gentle tissue paper.


I made sure to wiggle his little legs every now and then so they'd still move once the decoupage gel dried. Then I sat him down on the kitchen counter for a good night's sleep.

A little messy, but I was confident he'd dry well.


Thankfully, the next morning the hurricane was not upon us, but apparently, the craft fairy had shown up in the middle of the night.

Because when I greeted my new and improved, rose covered wooden pig, he looked fabulous!


So fabulous, in fact, that I couldn't decide whether I should display him in the kitchen. Or in my bedroom. He seemed to fit in both rooms very well.


He's so versatile and charming now.

He looks lovely roaming in any room of the house.

Which is great, since I have a feeling that's just what he'll be doing!


Would you decoupage a pig?