I bought this product called liquid laminate and its great for
all decoupage projects, it bonds, coats & seals fabric and
paper onto glass, plastic, wood and cardboard, etc and it
dries clear. You can apply a layer of laminate over the
paint or you could also mix it with the paint using equal parts.
If you mix it one coat will create a white wash effect so you
might want to apply more than one. This product protects your
finished project from rain and uv rays but after time the sun will
eventually fade it but I think that's true no matter what coating you use.
You can purchase it at Joanns, Michaels, Walmart, A.C. Moore,
Garden Ridge, Hobby Lobby and Sunshine Crafts.

So how is your project going? I hope my info above helped a little.

whatever you do- don't fall for modge POdge!

it doesn't hold up very well under good conditions.

I've had pretty good luck with minwax's polycryl satin clear coat for out door stuff... same stuff I used on my kitchen cabinets, actually.

I lay everything out ahead of time, then lay down a THIN coat of the clear, let it dry to 'tacky' then transfer the bits one at a time, smooth them down, let it all dry, then put on two or three more coats to seal down the edges.

I've also been in a hurry, or worked with sparkly bits, and used spray-glue as the first layer, put the pictures in, then used glitter or embossing powder to fill in the spaces between.

Thanks again for all of the great tips!!! I went to michaels to buy stuff last week & was overwhelmed, got distracted looking at scrapbooking stuff & left without buying what I needed for this project! LOL!
This week I'm going to try to get it done, I'll be back with pictures!