Need some art work pretty quick and short on funds? Try this super simple diy to add instant pizazz to a wall, shelf or door that needs a little something. If you can tear pictures and words from magazine and glue them onto any board, cardboard 3-D letter or any other dimensional surface, then this project is for you, my friend! It’s a short one for this diy Sunday. Let’s decoupage collage a funky sign!
 

Whew! Decoupage, collage, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, am I right? I can promise you that, even if it’s hard to say decoupage collage 3 times fast, the end result of this project is way nifty! I just happened to have this bid wooden @ sign. I’ve actually had this symbol sign for a while. Back in the day, I had a website called artfueledesigned and the “a” in artful, was the @ symbol. So, it was actually like a company logo for me. I found this symbol in my thrift store travels and, at the time, I had to have it. It’s not super huge but it’s not tiny either, so it did have a nice presence. The wood was nothing special and it was cut out of a piece of plywood with a jigsaw and then stained in a medium wood tone. It went well with a lot of my décor but I got tired of the wood. This diy has just a few simple steps:
 

Let’s Decoupage Collage a Funky Sign, Step 1: Prep The Surface
 

I used a damp, clean rag to wipe off any dust from the surface of the sign. You want your surface to be clean so you don’t get any unwanted smudges, or stains when you start gluing down your collage pieces. 
 

Let’s Decoupage Collage a Funky Sign, Step 2: Get To Rippin’
 

Here’s the fun part. Take a stack of old magazines. It doesn’t matter what kind. Mix and match genres if you’d like, décor, business, cooking, pets. There’s a magazine for every hobby, group and sub-group. (You could find a lot of “funky” content in some of those specialized magazines, if you know what I mean?...) back to the task at hand.. When you have your stack of magazines, take a seat and start flipping through to see headlines, feature stories, pictures or sayings, quotes, etc. that really speak to you. I was going for a “self enrichment” themed collage, but you may be more interested in pictures than words. Maybe you prefer making a vision board collage on a word or symbol that defines a goal. Have at it, I say. Start ripping the pages out whole and make a pile. 

Find words, pictures, phrases that are all different sizes. Don’t be afraid to rip out a big picture or word and then a bunch of smaller and mid sized ones too!
 

Let’s Decoupage Collage a Funky Sign, Step 3: Get To Tearin'
 

Once you have a pile of pages, go back and start to tear each of the words, pictures, or quotes out. You don’t have to be neat,  just tear around the items you want to collage. Jagged edges look cool and funky, so don’t try to be precise and don’t spend time thinking about the shape you want it to be or the size. Just let the tearing happen organically - willy nilly, as they say.
 

Let’s Decoupage Collage a Funky Sign, Step 4: Get To Pastin’
 

Now that you have your pile of awesome collage bits, let’s start pasting them down. I like to use Mod Podge, flat finish, but you can use the glossy finish if you want a bit of shine. There’s actually a Mod Podge for nearly every application. Some even contain glitter to make an even more sparkling final product. 

 I say just start randomly pasting the items onto your prepped surface. You can always fill in the gaps later on with smaller bits. It is a collage and doesn’t have to make absolute sense. In fact, the more random it comes together the better. And you may even find, as I did, that the words or phrases that are randomly placed somehow sync up with the other bits around them to make really beautiful new sayings. 

• Try pasting your words, quotes and pictures up-side-down, sideways or diagonally every now and again. This creates new negative space shapes to fill. It will also be more interesting for you and others to read once it’s all done.

• Once all your collage items are pasted down, give it a top coat or two with the Mod Podge and let it dry overnight. Once dried all you collage pieces should be locked in place.

There you have it, how to decoupage collage a funky sign. Hang yours in a place of honor and admire your art! I’d love to hear how yours turned out and feel free to send pictures to hello@michaelhelwiginteriors.com of your collage. You may even see your project in a follow up post here in the blog, you never know… If you enjoyed this post, give it a like and share it with your friends. I always love to connect with other crafters and creatives! And, if you want to get even more crafting and home decorating tips and tricks form a dude who’s been in the biz for a while, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter. I always give actionable decorating advice, step by step projects and some super cool diy’s that I only share with my subscribers. See you next Sunday for another diy Sunday post! Don’t forget to check out my weekly Thursday blog as well for all kinds of really useful decorating advice each week. 
 

Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.