Transfers For Wooden Gift Boxes!

Traditional ways of decorating a wooden gift box include painting, staining, carving, pyrography, inlay, laser etching, decoupage etc. But a novel way of decorating wood boxes that we discovered recently was by transferring photo images. This is a great way of personalizing wooden boxes and they make great gifts, not only at Christmas but at any time of the year.

Transferring any image from paper to another surface is fun and surprisingly easy. You don't need any special skills - just a little practice. Give it a go and soon you'll be looking for more ways to apply this simple technique!

Transfer Images On A Wooden Gift Box

The first thing you should bear in mind is that it's difficult to transfer an image obtained from an inkjet printer, as it will tend to smudge. That's okay if you like impressionism but not so good if you want a clean, crisp image transfer. So, what you'll need is a black and white or colour photocopied image.

The process of transferring the image involves applying a special transfer solution to the image you've chosen. You can purchase the transfer solution from any craft shop, or online. You then press down the image (photo side) onto the surface of the wooden box and leave it to dry.

The wooden box you have in mind can be unfinished, or if you want the image to stand out, it can be pre-painted with a water based emulsion paint, or even an oil paint.

Once the photo copy paper is dry, a damp cloth is used to wet the paper which is then gently removed leaving the image behind.

You can use a wood oil aerosol spray, or a proprietary seal from B&Q or Homebase to remove the paper residue and to provide a nice sheen or gloss finish.

The finished result is great because the image looks as though it's part of the wood rather than being stuck on like a paper transfer, or decoupage. So, what's stopping you - give it a go and release those creative juices!

http://www.polmacuk.com

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