Decoupage Makes a Comeback

by Pa Rock
Crafty Citizen Journalist

A few days ago I was exchanging email among a couple of friends when the subject of the stimulus checks came up.  I had not gotten mine - and still haven’t - but my friends had.  That led to a discussion of Trump’s letter that was mailed out along with the notice that their checks had been directly deposited into their bank accounts.  One of my friends said that she had gotten the letter and promptly ran it through a shredder – and that action had given her much personal satisfaction.  

I thought about her response for a beat or two and then told her that I thought I would write the word “Asshole” across mine in bright red letters and then decoupage it – creating a family heirloom from these very strange times.

A day or two later one of the “Word of the Day” dictionary sites that I subscribe featured the word “decoupage.”  My mother, who passed away thirty-three years ago, took up painting and arts and crafts late in life, and one of the crafts that she really enjoyed was decoupage – gluing a document to a sanded piece of wood and then covering it with a heavy coating of varnish or shellac.  I literally had not even thought of decoupage in decades, yet suddenly it seemed to be lurking everywhere I turned.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of decoupaging Trump’s letter.   It will serve as a reminder of the coronavirus plague, the Trump joke of a presidency, and the government handout that was late in coming - assuming it ever gets here at all.   And some day maybe one of my great-grandchildren or their great-grandchildren will take it to school for show-and-tell!

Nothing would make me prouder!