Supplies
Tools
- Syringe or cellophane pastry bag for henna
Materials
- Homemade henna paste
- Item of your choosing (wood, fabric, candle, plastic...)
- Glue varnish, paint varnish or spray varnish (the spray varnish creates a hard layer on top of the henna)
Directions
Henna paste preparation
- Prepare the homemade henna without adding the essential oil.
NB: a low quality henna will do the trick; no risk of getting an allergy ;-)
Apply the henna to the object
- Chose an object to customize.
- Wood, candles, fabric, canvas, paper: henna can be applied to all sorts of materials
- Apply the paste and let it dry.
- You can also:
- Take off the henna to obtain a flat design.
- Keep the henna as it is to obtain an embossed design. Watch how you treat the object after this as henna is very brittle.
Henna on canvas
- Apply the henna directly to the canvas.
Henna on wood
- Possible options: flat or embossed design.
- For the flat design, add some ammonia during preparation. The design will take the mahogany brown color of henna.
- For an embossed design, definitely use varnish in order to fix down the henna. Apply a few layers if necessary, leaving it to dry between each application.
- For a flat design, the varnish is optional: all depends on the intended effect.
Henna on fabric
- Possible options: only the flat design.
- Opt for natural fabrics like silk or cotton.
- Do not varnish: henna is permanent.
Henna on candles
- Possible options: embossed design.
- Apply the henna paste onto the candle.
- To fix it, two techniques can be used:
- Boil paraffin in a bain-marie, then soak the candle in it.
- Apply varnish.
Tips
- To avoid lumps, sift the paste in a stocking or even simpler: pass it through the mixer.