Beautiful Suburbia: I Decoupaged My Bike

In a rare fit of craftiness, I came up with the idea to decoupage my green beach cruiser. I really think someone is going to take this idea and get rich off it, but hey. It has always amazed me how some people seemingly get to make a living by throwing pixie dust in the air (jealous). As for me, I think I will continue flogging myself by doing it the hard way. Anyway, the bike.

Supplies

foam brushes
Mod Podge (from craft store)
sharp scissors
clear polyurethane spray

You may want a Popsicle stick to smooth the paper, but I just use my fingers. First thing's first. I used a stack of magazines I was ready to throw away and decided on a floral theme. I advise taking some Motrin for back and hand pain if you plan to do all the cutting in one marathon sitting. Seriously, it's tedious. I recommend doing it over a few sittings, like a puzzle. Covering a bike takes quite a lot of cut-outs depending on how much overlap you want. Tip: do not try to print pictures from the computer. The ink will bleed.

OK, Mod Podge is a glue and a lacquer. Begin to glue under and over each cut-out and place them one by one on the bike. Smooth out any wrinkles. Another tip, because a bike has very few flat surfaces, the larger the cutout, the more challenging it will be to get it to lay smooth and stick well. Continue to glue and lacquer with the foam brush until the bike is covered. The glue will dry clear.

The bike now needs to cure for about a month. Yes, a month. (Oh, come on, you don't ride it that often anyway). After that, if you want to make it rain-safe and durable, you can spray the bike with a polyurethane coat. Here are my new wheels: