Decoupaged Wicker Basket

I went to a flea market in Singapore a few months ago and bought myself a car load of baskets (well almost!). This is not the type of “flea markets” that sell imitation goods, new items, etc. This is an honest to goodness flea market in the real sense where you have to sift through a mountain of second hand stuff to find the real gems. Some of them covered in inch thick dust and grime. Whenever hubby and I go, we will always make sure we wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes and be prepared to squat (most items are just spread out on the ground) and haggle/bargain. They sell a lot of stuff, from second hand electrical goods to crockery, from baby clothes to grandpa’s walking stick!

This particular trip, I found about 6-7 baskets sold by different vendors and believe it or not, the most expensive was only about SD$4 (for a covered picnic basket) and just SD$1 each for the regular sized ones! Hate me :o). Of course I had to scrub and clean them when we got them home but underneath all that dust they had good structures and are pretty solid too.

I love the texture and shapes and the versatility of baskets. It has many, many uses and can be decorated in many, many ways.

For this particular one, I thought I’d try my hand at decoupage. I googled to see whether there were any particular process that I had to go through to decoupage a wicker basket but came up with none. I know many of you who are good at this, so please just close one eye and pretend that I’m doing it the correct way :o).

So first I spray painted the basket using DPI’s no.61 blue spray paint. I sprayed on a few layers, letting it dry in between. I have never tried this blue and only went by the colour of the cap on the can which I thought was pretty sweet and matches the paper napkin I intended to use so I was glad when the colour came out quite nice :o)

Once dry, I cut out the napkin to size and removed the layers behind..

Then I applied some Mod Podge on the surface where I wanted to paste the napkin. After applying the napkin to the area and pressing it down lightly with a brush to remove the air bubbles, I applied a few layers of Mod Podge on top as sealant. I think Mod Podge is wonderful! I see it being used a lot on the net and finally found some in a craft shop when I was in KL. A bit pricey at about RM33 per small bottle, I think, but you can do quite a lot of projects with just one small bottle. They have it in a glossy finish and a matte finish, depending on what you are working on.

This is how it looked whilst drying..

And since the theme is lavender, how about putting some potted “lavender” in it?

Maybe even add a couple of drops of lavender oil to the inside of the basket so it gives off a wonderful fragrance when you walk by? You are only limited by your own imagination :o) Enjoy!

Petals & Berries