Revamp your stairs using napkin art and photo transfers

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Change the stairs with napkin art and photo transfers too! A very simple technique for transferring printed images to your projects!

Hello sweet friends!

What about that heat wave? I don’t know about the rest of the country but it looks like we’re gearing up for one here on the Virginia coast. These are the times I wish I had a pool in the backyard, right?! Oh well, next door, one day!!

Today I am still working on this small distance…

I did the box a few weeks ago. If you missed it, you can see it here >> Change the old box for an updated look

Today I’m making that little tray in the back left of the picture.

Revamp your stairs using napkin art and photo transfers

I’ve been wanting to use this cute little bee napkin for something and decided to use it in this tray.

It’s perfect for summer!

I started by removing the handles from the sides.

Next, I painted the bottom of the drawer so it would have a similar background color to the napkin.

I used the color limestone because I thought it was appropriate.

Then I “whitewashed” the wooden frame with the same paint. (I didn’t get a picture of that)

Next, I pulled out the Decoupage & Transfer Gel and applied a thin layer to the bottom of the tray. Make sure to pull off both layers of the napkin before attaching it to the tray. You only want the thin part that has the print on it.

I used this old Pampered Chef scraper to get the paper into the creases really well. It worked great!

And let that dry.

Once dry, I cut off the excess tissue using an X-acto knife.

Do you see the whitewash frame of the stairs? Doesn’t look bad…but I think he’s been a little busy typing, so…stay tuned. 😉

Once I removed the excess tissue, I applied another layer of Decoupage & Transfer Gel.

So, yes, as you can see below, I decided to paint the entire staircase a limestone color.

Ease of transferring images

And I decided to be fun and put a quirky little quote for the word “bee” on the back! haha!!

I created this design and printed it on my laser printer. This is the laser printer I have

It’s very easy to do! Simply add a thin layer of transfer gel to the back of the tray.

Then trim the excess paper from the design (make sure you print it in reverse) and place it on the tray.

I then used the same scraper to press any air bubbles away.

Let it dry completely.

Once dry, use a damp sponge to wet the paper.

Then start gently rubbing the paper to reveal the print at the bottom of the tray.

It’s like magic!

Be gentle, and don’t rub too hard to remove the graphic.

I’ve done some other image transfers the same way:

Once that was all cleaned up, I applied a layer of Tough Coat Topcoat to the front and back.

Isn’t that cute?? What a fun surprise on the back.

Sweet little bees for summer!

I didn’t mention this before but I decided to tie the napkins together in the middle. One of them wasn’t big enough so there would be a line somewhere anyway. I tried to make it look like the green leaves are connected together. Does this make sense?

Anyway, napkins are fun! Lots of designs to choose from too.

Pin it to save!

I hope you all have an amazing weekend! These months fly by, right?! It’s definitely very hard to keep up with everything these days! Let’s all try to slow down and take it all in.

xoxo