mod podge ? anyone used it?

[Pudden]

I bought an old oak office desk from a charity shop for a tenner. The main part of it is in good nick but the top has a sort of insert made from some black material. It has suffered somewhat and has cuts in it, scorch marks and looks shabby (not in a 'chic' way either)

There was an old newspaper inside one of the drawers- a local one from 1946- and I would like to attach choice bits of the paper to the top in a decoupage way. I keep reading about mod podge the last few days and wondered if anyone as used it with success

would love feedback/tips please...ta!

As far as I know, you can get the same result with PVA glue! That's what I've always used and I've done a lot of furniture with decoupage. I stick the paper down, let it dry completely and then varnish with non sheeny varnish. It always looks great. You don't need Mod Podge. I pay less than 2 pounds for a large PVA from any old shop.

I just googled and found this on Yahoo

Is Mod Podge the same as PVA?

...In art supply stores you'll often see "PVA glue" as the term used for a good quality permanent white glue that doesn't have "too much" water in it, often used for bookbinding, bookmaking.
...In craft, hobby and sometimes art supply stores, you'll see various brands of "decoupage medium" (ModPodge, Royal Coat, etc) and they may also come in different versions (regular gloss or satin/matte, some more water-resistant than others they offer, some even with inclusions in them, etc).
...In all kinds of stores, you'll see various kinds of PVA/"white" glue (though be aware that some "white glues" aren't permanent...they're washable even after they've dried). Those may be cheap to expensive, better quality to low quality, tacky and thick or thinner, etc.

To make a decoupage medium from permanent white glue, often a cheap glue is used (Elmers GlueAll in the U.S., Fevicol, etc, in other places), then it's thinned down with water to make it thin enough to function well for decoupaging.

You can read more about all that in my previous question here:
answers.yahoo.com/question/index??

thanks Neo

I looked at it in a craft shop yesterday and chatted to the assistant about pva/mod and she says the finish and end result looks exactly the same whatever you use. Dh pipes up and says he has a big container of pva in the garage so I'm going to use that.

Money I saved we drank in Wetherspoons

i have always wondered about this too.

so any pva glue will do? interesting

what kind of varnish would people suggest? i have just painted a dressing table white. i was going to leave it but i think it will chip really easily.

i used to paint furniture all the time when i was younger and went through many colour stages, but found the varnishes i used went discoloured/yellow. i dont want discoloured/yellow... i want lovely lovely white

Acrylic varnishes shouldn't yellow - I think it's the oil/solvent based ones that do that.

I lov modge podge, I do a lot of collaging onto bits and bobs, mainly wood and I think it gives much better seal. I do tend to use the glossy stuff though, which is hard to find in the uk.

Love!

thanks soup will have to investigate next time im out