Decoupage?

I thought it would be fun to do a little lesson today on how to add paper items to our rocks.  I had an old sheet of vintage clown cutouts that if they were new when I purchased them are definitely classified as "vintage" now...yipes!  I wanted to use them up, to be honest, as they have not been treated the best, so they were wrinkled, but I happen to think of clowns as happy things, because in my childhood, clowns *were* happy.  Circus clowns, clowns at the parades my town had, which were pretty awesome parades, the clown that hung on my granny's wall, that when you twisted its nose, it played "Send in the Clowns" which is still one of my favorite songs to hear...and the title of the piano arrangement I played in the talent show in the 3rd grade that won me a large pizza from Pizza Hut was called "Clowns" and it was a fast-paced song that reminded me of clowns on a tight rope or something.  Happy memories, each and every one.

OK, off Memory Lane and back to rocks...I posted this this week, and it received a lot of comments.  

This is NOT my painting, this is one of those cut outs I was just talking about.  These are a little thicker, between sticker and card stock thickness, if that makes any sense.  Even with a good coat of Mod Podge for them to stick to and then a good coat over, if the items are very thick, I find that they like to soak up enough of the moisture from the Podge to start wrinkling.  This never makes me smile with glee.

Insert good ole Aleene here:

Tacky Glue, in my opinionation, is something that every household should have.  Sort of like duct tape, or super glue.  It'll darn near stick anything to anything.  Dries clear, doesn't expand...and CHEAP!  I squirted out just a small amount, think pencil eraser in size, got out my paint brush, and painted the back of my clown all over.  Then I smoothed that clown down on my already-smooth rock and let it dry like that.  No bumps, no wrinkles, no peeling around the corners...just looks like my clown was printed on my rock.

Here are some pointers to go along with this lesson:
*It is necessary to put a coat of Mod Podge over the whole rock, including the item put down, because the clear coat and paper don't really mix that well.  AFTER the coat of Podge, THEN coat with clear coat in light doses, misting a few times until you think it's good.
*I find it helpful to put the tacky glue on the backs of stickers as well.  Yes, they are sticky, but for me, they still come up.  Not all do, but to save myself from ruining a rock and to save the trouble of trying to make it work, I put a coat on the back of each sticker before placing it as well.
*Tacky Glue is only needed for thicker paper items.  (I have a future lesson coming up with thinner papers and how-to's.)
*I haven't done one in a while to photograph, but this is fun to do with fortunes from your Chinese cookies as well.  Who doesn't love reading those silly things?  :)

For making it all the way to the end, I'm sharing with you another clown that I put together this morning:

"See" ya tomorrow, and happy 4th of July!  I'm so grateful to live in the Land of the Free...because of the BRAVE.  Don't forget to thank a Veteran, active military, and the families of those who have to share their loved ones so that we can be free to pick and paint our rocks while they are out there fighting for our country!