~Decoden Tips: Lessons on Kawaii DIY~

@decodentips

Hello! My name is Sara and for now I’m the sole person running this tumblr. I have been involved in decoden for about seven years now, and I own and operate the Etsy shop the Non Dairy Confectionery. I work mostly with whipped cream cases and polymer clay cabochons, but do have experience with other mediums as well. Disclaimer: While I am here to answer any questions you might have about decoden and will do my best to give you valid information, please bear in mind that I do not consider myself an “expert” and as such am not an ultimate authority on decoden by any means. All my answers will be based upon my personal experience and, if I do not know the answer to your question, I will do research to try and supply you with what information I can.

763 posts

to the anon asking about copyright! in case you do run into an issue with companies doing sweeps through etsy, you'll get an email about infringement for one of your items and it just removes your item from public view. it's nothing serious at all so long as you don't repost it

Thanks for the input!

Hi! Im interested in making phone cases to sell on Etsy and Im gonna start making them very soon. I wanna make anime ones like Love Live and Sailor Moon but Im not sure how to avoid copyright laws. Ive heard that there are some loopholes to avoid this but Ive done lots of research but Im not finding anything :( Thank you! 💞

Honestly copyright is a complicated and difficult topic that I don’t generally feel qualified to talk about. I think if something is inspired by the series vs having licensed figures or images on it, you might be ok, but licensing really comes down to the specific companies. I know for instance Disney doesn’t usually allow people to sell things made from their official fabrics, but I have seen cases with official sailor moon gashapon figures on them. I think you really just have to tread carefully.

Hi! So I've gone through your archive and faq and if I've missed this, then I'm sorry, but I'm trying to make a case but before i can finish, my silicone keeps seizing up! I don't use a lot of paint, but i do have to pipe outside. Does temperature affect it? What are the best conditions to pipe outside in?

Humidity affects it more than temperature. If you’re in a humid area, that could be what’s causing the silicone to seize up. Usually mild temperatures and dry air is best.

what is the best piping nozzle to use

It depends on what shape you want, but I personally like Wilton star tips.

Hello!! Have you ever tried attaching a ring or pop socket onto a decoden case?? I like using one since my hand is too small for my phone but I’m not sure how well it would stay on with the silicone. I’m sorry if someone has asked this before

You would have to attach the pop socket first and then decorate around it, but I think that’s doable. You might just need to careful about the thickness of the decorations so they don’t get in the way of the pop socket

I had a question, not a lot of shops sell marvel specific cabochons but I know there’s a lot of metal pins and charms (mostly metal) that would look cute on a case. How well would they stay if I used something metal instead of resin (or other) flat backs??

Silicone actually sticks pretty well to metal in my experience so I think you would be fine. It would just make whatever you’re working on heavier.

Apart from ebay, aliexpress and etsy. Do you know of a different place to find sanrio stickers? Thank you!

There are some available on the Sanrio website’s shop, and there’s a good chance that local sanrio/san-x suppliers will carry stationery. It really depends on what area you’re in. Some other online options include Blippo, Japanla, and ShopKawaii, but I can’t personally vouch for the trustworthiness or service of any of them, as I’ve never purchased from them myself.

Sorry if this question is in the FAQ before, I can’t view it... (Tumblr should really update its mobile version) I just wanted to ask, what is the difference with using paper clay and sillicone for decoden phone cases? I’m very new to this and I’m still planning to make decoden.

Paper clay dries hard and is not waterproof, but it’s typically low odor and less messy to use. Silicone dries soft, but off-gases a pretty strong smell, and is hard to clean up if you get it on something you don’t want. In general, I prefer silicone, but paper clay is a good option if you’re just starting and not confident in your piping skills.

Hi, first off I wanted to say thanks for having this blog, it's really helpful! I've been making decoden cases and the silicone often peels off, even though I sand all my cases. I know you can reattach them with cyanoacrylate glue but do you think if I put cyanoacrylate glue on the case before piping the silicone, could this prevent the silicone from peeling off in the first place? Or do you think that would interfere with the silicone's curing?

I don’t think it would inhibit curing, but it sounds like it would be really messy. Cyanoacrylates dry very quickly in thin layers, likely faster than you would be able to put all your silicone down, and if you put on a thicker layer most are very runny, so you’re likely to end up with glue in places you really don’t want it. It’s better to just let the silicone dry, peel it off, and then reattach it.

Will cabochons/charms come off the silicone if you try to take them off? I might want to reuse charms I put on but I’m not sure if it’ll damage it or stick to it heavily

It really depends. Some will grip onto it very tightly, others will pop right off. If you’re done with the case there’s no harm in trying. Most of the time, you can cut off big pieces of silicone that are stuck.

Can you add acrylic paint to silicone II? I have only used silicone I because everytime I try it with silicone II it never dries. Should I only use silicone I?

Whether you use Silicone I or II won’t make a big difference. Using acrylic paint is possible, but only with very small amounts because the water in the paint causes the silicone to start curing. If you’re going to use acrylic, make sure you’re using a very pigmented heavy body paint.

hello! i dont know anything about decoden cases or such but i got onw as a present and i really liked it! the problem is that everything moves its like its not "dry" eveything is soft (the silicon?) is that supposed to be?

The silicone is supposed to stay sort of rubbery. It should be squishy, but it should return to its original shape. If it doesn’t, there may have been an issue with the curing process, but if it’s just got a little give because the silicone has a soft texture then that’s normal.

Hello! I started decoden and I'm selling at my cousin's boutique/doing commissions. My hope is that by selling locally the concept seems more unique and trendy to those closed minded about "weird Japanese stuff" as my aunt calls things that aren't "normal." I made a few items, but cases seem fragile. I've never owned one, but I can't imagine spending $15 or more on a decorative case that might break from being in my purse. How can I convince customers beyond saying "be gentle with it its art"

I think just letting people know that they’re hand made and intended to be decorative is enough. You won’t be able to convince everyone, but that’s ok. You don’t really want to spend too much energy trying to convince someone to purchase from you anyways, because they more coaxing you have to do, the more likely they’ll be unhappy with it if there are any small issues.

Just curious, my first case I made held together well for about a month then the silicone fell off, is there anything you can recommend to do? I used brand new clear plastic cases and 100% silicone

You can reattach them with a little bit of cyanoacrylate glue.

When you're buying phone cases for your decoden, do you buy a bulk amount of the same case? Like let's say 10 Galaxy S7 cases. Or have you found bulk mixes? Also do you use clear or solid color cases? Or just whatever you find lol

I used to do bulk cases, but have found that since phone models change so much, it just wasn’t worth it, so I usually purchase them on a case by case basis. Whether you use solid or clear cases is really up to you, since it’s just aesthetic. I usually use clear ones.

I was thinking of doing some Deco on my PS4, they don't really sell hard cases for PS4, pretty much just stickers that go over the whole thing. 1: do you think the silicon would stick to the stickers. 2: do you think it would overheat the PS4 at all?

You could definitely deco on top of stickers, but yes, I do think this would overheat the PS4. I would pay attention to where your PS4 generates/vents the most heat and avoid covering those parts. A few small decorations wouldn’t be a problem though I think.

Hello! Do you know any way I could make the silicone thinner/runnier? I have tried diferent brands and they're always too thick to whip and come out chunky, even if i add close to no paint :(

You can thin silicone with mineral spirits, but I don’t really recommend it. If you make it runny then the silicone won’t hold shape at all, and you’ll end up with a blob instead of nice icing peaks.

~Decoden Tips: Lessons on Kawaii DIY~ @decodentips - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag