An Introduction to Decoupage Decoupage might sound like a fancy word, but it comes from the French word “découper”  – meaning to cut out . At its heart, decoupage is the art (and craft) of decorating surfaces with paper. It’s a wonderfully versatile technique and can be used to upcycle all sorts of items , from something as small as a placemat to much larger pieces of furniture. It’s a brilliant way to give objects a completely new look, adding colour and personality to thing