Decorate a kids ironing board

Take a lovingly handcrafted toy ironing board, and restore it with colour and a fun vintage themed decoupage treatment.

Resene upcycling for good with Sarah Herring - Project 37

Finished project

You will need: Clear-drying PVA glue, old magazines for taking clippings from, Resene Aquaclear waterborne urethane varnish, Resene Quick Dry primer undercoat, Resene testpots – Sarah used Resene Rascal and Resene Sea Nymph, sandpaper and testpot brushes.

Before

Finished project

Step one
Check that your item doesn’t need any repairs. Give it a light clean and sand to prepare it for painting. This old ironing board was in pretty good condition but needed a sand to tidy up a few dings and dents. Once ready for painting, apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry primer undercoat and wait for it to dry.

Step two
Apply your first chosen colour to the main board. Sarah chose Resene Sea Nymph for a bit of a vintage look for the finished project. Apply two coats, allowing dry time between coats.

Step three
Apply your chosen base colour to the stand. Sarah chose Resene Rascal. Apply two coats, allowing dry time between coats.

Step four
Browse through some magazines or old children’s books to find some cute clippings that you can collage on the top of the ironing board. Because a hand crafted ironing board is quite an old fashioned toy, Sarah wanted to use quirky and cute clippings that felt fun and nostalgic. Cut out things like vintage china, button and sewing images, polka dot patterns, stripy socks etc.

Step five
Once you have all your clippings, place them on the board to plan where you want them to go and how you want to layer and overlap the clippings. Sarah placed a bunch of clippings at one end of the board, so the paint colour would still be visible across the rest of it.

Step six
Start gluing down your clippings by using a mix of 50/50 PVA glue and water as a paste. To decoupage, you apply one layer at a time, gluing the pictures down and then applying a coat of the paste mixture over the top to seal your layers. Add more layers of glued cuttings on top of each completed one, applying the paste mix on top of each layer. Once the design is finished, wait for all the glue to dry.

Step seven
Once your decoupage has dried completely, apply two coats of Resene Aquaclear varnish over the top to protect your work and give your project a lovely gloss finish. And there you have it, a vintage toy restored with a fun new look, ready for a new child to enjoy.

Completed project

Upcycling for Good

You can find a huge range of treasures, from ornaments and picture frames, to furniture and toys at your local Salvation Army store that you can easily upcycle with a little Resene paint and some imagination.

"Our Family Stores are full of treasures generously donated by members of the public. We value these donations and try our hardest to re-purpose and sell as much as possible. We’re all about re-using and recycling, so teaming up with Resene on Upcycling for Good was a perfect match. Resene’s products and tips are a natural fit with our pre-loved furniture and accessories, which are usually great quality but could sometimes do with a lick of paint to ensure they fly off the shelves.

Each year, nationally, our stores save 16,000 tonnes from landfill. This initiative increases the value of the donated product, improves the range of goods for our customers, and furthers The Salvation Army’s mission and Resene’s community activity.” Gareth Marshall, The Salvation Army's National Family Store Manager.

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Resene Paints (Australia) Limited – www.resene.com