How to Stencil

Everyone knows how to stencil right?

Or do they?

I think sometimes just because a lot of us crafters know how to do something, we assume everyone does. Simple or not, I'm sure there are some out there that have never done it before.

So....

I thought I'd do a little tutorial on how to stencil.

Nothing fancy, just the basics.

I decided to use Chalk Paint since I'm stenciling a letter which has narrow lines. Chalk Paint has a little thicker consistency so I shouldn't have to worry about it bleeding under my stencil.

You don't need much paint at all for something this small, so I'm just using the paint from the lid after shaking the paint. You can use a stencil brush, dauber, sponge brush, in a pinch once I used a Q-tip!

Today I'm using a small stencil brush.

Load your "brush" with a bit of paint.

Now dab off any excess. 

You don't want too much on your ''brush'' 

or the paint will bleed under the stencil 

and your image won't be crisp.

Place your stencil where you want it. 

Tape if necessary to hold in place. 

Paint by dabbing up and down with your ''brush''.

Be sure to thoroughly cover your stencil image with paint.

Remove stencil carefully. 

Wash stencil with warm water and

 gentle liquid soap immediately.

If you clean your stencil before the paint dries,

 it's so much easier to get clean and comes out looking like new.

Wash your brush while you're at it also.

The finished product!

A nice clear stencil with crisp lines.

Stencils can be used to decorate any home decor.

Stencils were used on the sign for this Halloween Wreath

Another example of stenciling. This time on a footstool

You'll notice I needed to switch the paint color to Purple Velvet for the letters due to the white not showing up as visible as I would have liked it. I placed the stencil over the white letter and covered it with purple. Mistake fixed

The more you stencil the better and more versatile you'll be.

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