I’m so glad you made it here! There are lots of dubious homemade mod podge recipes out there but this is the one that is perfectly proportioned! The one handed down from crafting whizz to crafting whizz, and now here it is, in your very hands! I first posted this recipe many moons ago (six years ago!) when I was living in London. These days we live in a yurt in New Zealand (seriously!) and I still use this homemade mod podge recipe every single day. I use this homemade mod podge on DIY projects like relining my drawers with beautiful old wall paper, everyday crafts with my daughters and the collage artworks I love to whip up.
Now, in lots of ways I am a hand clapping optimist. I find it really hard to imagine the worst case scenario and always think everything is going to work out, which is often to my detriment. In other ways I am a doubting cynic. When it comes to brands and their promises I am more dubious then Scooby doo smoking doobies in dubiousville. When a grand claim is made of a product my mind screams “LIES, ALL DAMN LIES!” like some kind of crossed witch.
There are some exceptions:
- Helmans mayonnaise (no other will do. I can eat this with a spoon for lunch.)
Ummmm.
Okay, actually, I think that is it on my list.
So when I first heard about crafting super power that is Mod Podge I tried to ignore the screamy witch and find out exactly what it is that makes Mod Podge such a delight. First of all I began by trying to find out what Mod Podge is.Wanna know what it is, basically?
Watered down PVA glue.
That’s: Homemade Mod Podge is PVA glue with water in it.
PVA (that you can buy in bulk for a few quid) with water (free)
But people are paying heaps for this crafting Must Have, to do things like decoupage and scrapbooking, that people have done for years with watered down PVA. PVA is also known as Elmer’s glue or woodowrking glue or simply white crafting glue. It is gluggy and sticky and thick and perfect.
I kind of think the people of Mod Podge are trying to fox us all a little bit.
Oh well. Now we know, eh?
Homemade Mod Podge Recipe
To make a jar of fake / homemade Mod Podge you need 1 cup of glue and 1/3 cup of water. These proportions are perfect – don’t mess with them. Other internet recipes for homemade Mod Podge abound but they are TOO WEAK. Beware! Shake really well and use as you would Mod Podge. To make it gloss add 2 table spoons of water based varnish or to make the sparkly add super fine glitter.
What to make
You can make ANYTHING with this stuff – it is the business! I craft left, right and center with my trusty jar of homemade mod podge!
Decoupage – mod podge is traditionally used to decoupage. This stuff works just as well.
Scrap booking – it is perfect.
Sealing – fling a bit of this over a freshly painted canvas or a craft to seal it all in.
I have even made hardcore DIY recycled flooring with mod podge and paper as the base!
Recently I wanted to try making some decorated pegs. I made some Christmas pegs with ribbon and scrabble tiles in this way but found cutting the fabric and getting it to not fray really tricky.Using homemade Mod Podge on fabric turns it into a paper like substance and makes cutting out fabric a real breeze – perfect for a peg craft, thanks.
Just give the little scraps of fabric a good soaking then leave them to dry as flat as you can. Then snip them up. It is truly ace and made making these pegs so easy. And if you are like me and keep every snippet of beautiful material than this is the PERFECT use!
I used some navy polka dots and even a bit of lace, so simple and quick (excuse the late-at-night in mid-winter photography!)
Does it yellow?
I have been using this for several years and it hasn’t yellowed. Beyond “several years” I can’t answer as I haven’t been making it for ages. However, my gut feeling is that people have been decoupaging for EVER, without things yellowing- and mod podge didn’t actually exist until quite recently. So, yeah.
I made retro fabric bird garland using this technique and transformed some rubbish old tins.
Is it waterproof?
You can make it waterproof by adding varnish to it. However, if you really want something waterproof, hardcore, then I would say you need to use varnish. Not mod podge at all. (Remember Mod Podge isn’t waterproof unless you select the waterproof option too.)
What do you think? Are you a Mod Podge Die Hard? Or are you generally happy with the fake/ home made versions of things?
The best place online to buy PVA is undoubtedly my affiliate chums Yellow Moon. You can get 1 litre bottles or 5 litre bottles and it never goes off. They also have almost every possible craft thing you have dreamed of. It is a crafter’s paradise.
*sings* I’ve been spending most my years living in the crafter’s paradiiiiiise… power in the money… money in the power… minute after a minute…. hour after hour…
Sorry. Totally carried away with my 1990’s rapping there.
Tell me about the project you are whipping up with your homemade mod podge!
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Thanks for reading!
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