Categories: Decorating & Design

Decorate Your Home with Iron-On Clothing Appliques

It’s amazing how different a garment can look after adding a simple iron-on applique. The appliques, made with tiny beads, sequin, or just cloth, can instantly change the look of more than just garments, though. Forget that the appliques are made with garments in mind, and use them to add sparkle to things around the home, like mirrors, lamps and more.

Craft stores in your home town, or online resources for appliques, will allow you to choose from hundreds of designs. You’ll find large appliques, tiny ones, glittery designs, or just ordinary cloth appliques. You can choose the ones that will work well with your own projects or decor.

When appliques are attached to garments, they are generally sewn in place, but fabric glue can also be used to attach them to clothing. Glue is the ticket to adding the beautiful appliques to things around your house, too. The adhesive you select will depend upon the surface to which you are attaching the applique. Generally, though, you can use white glue or even decoupage adhesive to attach the appliques to anything from wood to glass to metal.

Choose a large, beaded applique to instantly change the look of your lampshade. Or, select a package of tiny appliques and glue them around the base of the lamp, or around the edges of the lampshade. Use the same technique to attach the appliques to the corner of mirrors, picture frames, some doorknobs, vases, candle holders and many other items.

The appliques you choose don’t necessarily have to be beautifully sequined or beaded. They can be cartoon characters to use in the nursery, patriotic designs to use in the den, or just monograms to be used on a mantle or door. There are no limits to the designs you can create using the simple appliques.

Consider the appliques for unique surfaces in your house. A cheap, plastic, bedroom trash can, for example, can look quite expensive after you’ve added your choice of appliques to the front of the can. Add the appliques to cabinet doors for a beautiful and unique look. Some other unusual surfaces include your laptop case, a guitar case, a child’s headboard, the clothes hamper, a jewelry box, small appliances, dollhouse furnishings, shoes, clocks, or even canisters.

It’s very easy to attach the appliques to almost any surface. Combine large and small appliques to cover a large area, or choose the tiniest of appliques to a velvet choker. The appliques are great for decorating, covering a marred place on a favorite item, or just to embellish your household light switch covers.

Fabric paints, dispensed from tubes, are fabulous for outlining the appliques, if you wish. Simply squirt the paint out, directly onto the surface, outlining the applique itself. Even use the paints on the applique if you wish to add more color to the design.

You’ll have lots of fun gluing appliques onto household items, but let me warn you: once you get started it’s difficult to give it up! You’ll want to add appliques to everything you own! Look for the appliques at a reduced cost by checking yard sales and flea markets. Find them cheaper at a discount department store, which sells fabrics and notions, than what you’ll pay for them at a craft store. You’ll find a huge variety and some great deals online as well.