While designing the look for our small plain wooden chair we decided it needed to have a little “oomph” to it.

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We thought a small appliqué would work perfect! (If your looking for an appliqué for your own project, click here!)

However, the back of the chair was curved…and the appliqué was not. Whoops!

We didn’t panic, but thought of the great idea of soaking the appliqué in warm water so it would become more malleable where we could bend it to the shape we wanted.

It had to soak for longer than I originally thought, but we just kept checking it to see how malleable it was. After that we needed to shape it to the curve of the chair. We took clamps and placed the appliqué on the curve.

We also placed plastic in between the chair and the appliqué and the appliqué and the clamps to protect the chair from getting wet and the appliqué from getting divots from the clamps. Just don’t put the plastic on too tight around the appliqué because it does need to dry! Leave overnight.

After its shape is set you can then grab your wood glue and attach it to the piece. Use clamps for this part as well.

 

After that is dry you can then paint!

We love the small addition of the appliqué to this little chair. It helps to give it a little something special.