Help me finish my collage project

I made a collage using cutouts from various magazines and glued them with a glue stick onto a foam board. I need to cover the whole thing with something to keep it clean and protect it. Also it looks like the glue stick isn’t very strong, so corners start popping up. What do I use to finish it off? Shrinkwrap? Some kind of spray? If it matters, the cutouts are from different kinds of paper, so the thickness and quality is not uniform. I’d be afraid to spray something and then have some of the cutouts go transparent.

Trying to wrap up the ol’ thesis, eh? Sweet.

I’d use some scotch tape on all the corners, and anywhere else the paper is coming up. You can wrap the whole thing in saran wrap! Fun!

Are these tiny little cutouts? If so, a little glue on a toothpick. Just touch it on the upturned corners and stick 'em back down.

Re: covering the whole thing, there might be a heavy-gauge plastic film at the hobby shop that you could cover it with. Fold it over like gift wrapping on the back and tape it down.

Good luck!

You might want to go to your local artsncrafts store and ask the customer service person what to use. I think that ModPodge might work. For that matter, a coat of polyurethane might work, too, though you might have some bits go transparent, as you fear. I used to brush a polyurethane liquid called Deft (I bought it at a hardware store) onto my gaming books to protect them from the inevitable Cheeto dust and Dr. Pepper spills. The poly coating was somewhat sticky, so it would paste down the corners, too.

Next time, don’t use a glue stick. Use rubber cement or wood glue. Place your cutouts face down on a sheet of waxed paper, brush the cement or glue on the backs, and position on the board. For rubber cement, cover the whole board with rubber cement first, let it dry, and then brush the backs of the cutouts and let THEM dry, and then stick together.

would contact paper not work? You have to be really careful to keep the bubbles out, but I would think it would work. If you don’t mind little lines across your collage, covering the whole thing in packing tape works as well.

Contact paper is a real bitch to apply. I’ve done it before, but now I rarely use it, and only on small pieces that are easy to cover in one go. I’ve covered paperback books with contact paper (clear, obviously) and even something that small is not easy to get perfectly covered.

I’ve done a notebook collage and covered it with contact paper. It isn’t perfect, but it is functional. In retrospect, I should have started with a notebook that wasn’t already being held together with duct tape. Also, I would have chosen a less flimsy contact paper. It is a little less transparent, but less likely to stretch or kink while you are applying it. I have also used packing tape for smaller functional collages (bus pass holder, name badge) and it works well. To apply a large sheet of contact paper, cut it extra large and remove only a small amount of the adhesive at one time.

I’ll second Lynn Bodoni’s suggestion of Mod Podge. I think it will be easier to get a good result with that than using contact paper, tape, or Saran Wrap.

Mod Podge is basically like a white glue that dries clear (unlike Elmer’s, which dries whitish and cloudy). It comes in glossy and matte finishes. Because it’s like glue, as you apply it, it will stick down the little edges of your collage pieces that are coming up.

If you want, you can also smooth out the texture of the collage so that you can’t feel the edges of your cutouts anymore by applying multiple layers of Mod Podge, not too thick, and letting it dry between applications until you build up a smooth finish. The Mod Podge will also protect your collage.

I usually just spread it on with my fingers. Afterwards you can just peel the dried Mod Podge off your hands. It also cleans up with soap and water, but that’s not as fun.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I’ll have to check out this ModPodge stuff.