Decoupage question

[5Foot5]

This is something I have just tried for the first time. I have glued my pictures to the item to be covered using PVA slightly thinned with water. Looks pretty good so far.

Anyway my question concerns the varnishing. I have so far applied four or five coats of the same medium (PVA thinned with a little water) and frankly it doesn't look much different once it has dried. I was envisaging that I would eventually get a nice shiny surface. Am I being unrealistic?

Please could any crafters tell me what you do?

• What do you use? I have also got some acrylic spray on varnish left over from another project - would that be better?
  

• How many coats of varnish is usual?
  

• What sort of finish should I expect to get?
  

Thanks in advance

[Strawdolly]

How thick was the paper that you used? I think if you don't thin the PVA the coats will build up more quickly. It could well take many coats of varnish to achieve a smooth result if your paper was quite thick. I use the top layer of napkins now, they're so much thinner so the varnishing is less tiresome

Do you have any scraps left over? You could try a PVA/spray varnish experiment and see which gives you a better result sooner.

[5Foot5]

I used pictures cut from a magazine so not very thick.

Many coats is fine if that's how many it takes, I just wasn't sure what to expect.

I have got more scraps to try on another object so I might use the spray on that and see which one works best.

Thanks

[Hushabyelullaby]

Let all of it dry and then put a final coat of just PVA on it. It may look white, but it dries clear and has a nice shine