What can be used in place of shellac for this project?

Pourable (brush on) epoxy resin?

What about starch like we use for decoupage?
I said “we” didn’t I? Sorry. Someone asked a “we” question in another thread. We just got into it, and now we can’t seem to let it go. We are truly sorry, but give fair warning; any further answers today tat we give will all probably involve a pluarality of personality, ie. “we”.
We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may cause. We have no intention of letting this go.

they make water based polyurethane which i buy all the time in Walmart or Home Depot. it dries quickly, also. Brush on.

You can still buy spray shellac in woodworking stores. Shellac is very safe; it’s lacquer that’s the health issue.

One example of available spray shellac.

@mama_cakes never used it, is it easy to work with and dries stiff?
@Trillian that was essentially what I had in mind, but I wasn’t sure how it would work.

I am just worried that if the spray polyurethane wouldn’t dry properly, would we be looking at the same problem with shellac? I just assumed right off the bat that shellac would be the best choice.. but now I’m not so sure. @jca I think I might actually have some, good call.

@TheOnlyNeffie We suggest paintbrushes of several different stiffnesses. Then just use one sample for a template or tester and see what works. You may have to apply several thin layers, letting each one dry. Let us know how it works out. We will check back in later.

@TheOnlyNeffie I used it to do my coffee table. To create a hard table top. I’m not entirely sure that it would work for you, though.

Coffee table.

@Trillian okay, we’ll report back after some field testing on operation crispy cupcakes.

@mama_cakes best coffee table ever.

http://www.plaidonline.com/mod-podge/brand/home.htm

I have used this for Decoupage it works very well in my experience. Similar results to shellac.