Easy Decoupage Idea For Kids To Make As Gifts

This decoupage craft for kids is an easy one that little kids and older kids can both do, and they can also make them as gifts to give to people during the holidays or for birthdays and other special occasions. It’s a fun decoupage Mason Jar art project that uses Mod Podge, which is water-based so you don’t need chemical solvents, and kids can be creative and make their own designs using upcycled fabric or fabric scraps from your sewing stash.

decoupage ideas for kids to give as gifts

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Materials you’ll need:

You don’t need many materials for this, and you can use new or upcycled materials for some of them. (All links go to Amazon and are affiliate links)

Mod Podge
Foam brushes
Glass jars (new or recycled)
Fabric (new or upcycled)
Tissue paper (optional instead of the fabric)

What ages can do this craft?

This is an easy one, so kids who are in kindergarten can do this with some supervision. Older kids can do it on their own, and teens and adults can do elaborate designs that are really complicated.

For really young kids, tissue paper might be easier than fabric, depending on what kind of fabric it is. Tissue will stick to the jar a lot easier than fabric will, but it can also tear easier. It’s okay if it tears, though, because you can just put more tissue over it.

For older kids or adults, you can use different things like boxes or plastic containers if you want to stick with upcycled items. You can also get really elaborate with the decoupage by making collages and designs that are more precise.

Prep the fabric.

Choose fabric that you like, either in contrasting colors, or coordinating colors that go together. You can use fabric scraps from sewing projects, or if you have old clothes that you want to upcycle, use those. Natural fibers like cotton or cotton blends will probably work best for this.

You can cut the fabric into small pieces or strips, depending on what kind of design you want to do. If you’re using cotton you don’t need to worry about the fabric having wrinkles in it because the Mod Podge will soften it and it will flatten out.

You can also use tissue paper or paper napkins for this, but I’m using fabric for this demo!

Shake the Mod Podge well (I’ll call it glue for the rest of this article) before using it to make sure it’s mixed up and ready to spread evenly.

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Start covering the jar.

I used a foam brush for this because it brushes on smoothly and it holds a lot of the glue inside it so you can press the brush onto the fabric instead of having to dip it into the jar constantly.

Brush some of the glue onto the jar, then press the fabric piece onto the jar. Make sure that the fabric is completely stuck to the jar with some extra glue around the edges.

Press the brush onto the fabric and press the edges of the piece onto the jar. Cover the entire piece of fabric to make sure it’s completely covered.

Brush more glue onto the jar and continue putting fabric onto it, overlapping the edges to cover the glass completely as you go. Work your way around the jar, covering the whole surface.

When you get to the top of the jar, you can either leave the lid area uncovered so that you can screw the jar lid back on later, or cover the threads with the fabric. If you do that, you won’t be able to use the lid with the jar after it’s done, so keep that in mind.

If you do cover the lid area, you’ll need to brush glue onto the inner edge of the lid, then fold the fabric over the top edge of the jar and press the fabric onto the inner edge.

As you work your way around the jar you’ll run out of places to hold it that don’t have glue on them, so your hands are going to get sticky. If you don’t want to have glue hands (it’s not a big deal) you can do part of the jar and let it dry, then finish the rest later.

When you get to the bottom of the jar, curve the fabric around the bottom and glue it around the base.

Dry the jar on something it won’t stick to, like a silicone mat or a vinyl mat. Don’t put it on paper, or it will stick and ruin the fabric.

Let the covered jar dry completely, and use it for a pencil jar, vase, or a jar to hold things like coins or buttons in a craft room. If you want to put water in it, don’t let the water get all the way to the top part if you glued the fabric over the lip of the jar, because it might melt the glue at the top.