Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Stenciling Tips

Have any of you done any stenciling before? Years ago I stenciled a border around my bathroom and I've occasionally stenciled something onto a craft, so I thought stenciling a wall in my new craft room would be pretty easy.  

Well it wasn't actually hard, it just took FOREVER! I think I spent as much time stenciling this wall as I did painting the entire basement. 

The question is, was it worth it? 

Here is a closeup of the stencil I chose. I had to repeat this over....


and over....


and over...


and over again. 594 times to be exact.


I'm looking at this picture now thinking that I am crazy to have done this, but I LOVE how it turned out. It will not be painted over for a looong time, if ever. It took too much time.



So here are a few of my unprofessional tips if you decide to stencil a whole wall:

1. Choose a larger stencil. Mine was only 5"x 5". I spent half my time repositioning the dang thing. 

2. Use a level. This was really helpful in keeping my lines straight. Each time I would reposition the stencil I would check and see if I had it up straight. Sometimes when you are so close to the wall, it looks like it's straight but it's really not. {This might not apply if you have a random patterned stencil}

3. Use small amounts of paint and dab it on. Don't brush it on, it will get underneath the stencil and mess everything up.

4. Make sure you have lots of movies for your kids to watch while you spend hours ignoring them;) Actually my 2 year old liked to "help" me. She learned how to dip the brush into the paint, only getting a small amount on. However it was much faster and easier when she got sick of it and moved on to other things.

5. Patience! Patience! Patience!

This is looking kind of brownish in the pictures, but it's actually green. The base color is Frosted Pine by Glidden and the stenciling was done in Prairie Sage also by Glidden. All the other walls in this room are Prairie Sage too.


So I'm dying to know what you think. Was it worth my time? Do you love it as much as I do?

Want to try stenciling on fabric? Try these easy stenciled totes!






18 comments :

  1. WOW!! that turned out beautiful. I am not sure I would have the patience to do something like that. Amazing job

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  2. Looks great!!! I hope you will share this at The CSI Project this week. The challenge is stencil projects. You can start linking up tonight. And just might win!!!
    www.thecsiproject.com

    Hugs,
    Dee, the CSI Girl

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  3. This post comes at a perfect time for me. I'm getting ready to stencil a wall soon. I know it's going to take forever but I have a feeling it's going to be my favorite wall in my house. :) Thanks for the tips :)

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  4. Rachel, you did an amazing job! Way to go!

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  5. Wow, that is one fabulous-looking wall. I love it a lot. I can't believe you stenciled it, but I love it a lot, ha ha. Thanks for sharing at our party this week. (love the tip about having lots of movies, lol).

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  6. You have amazing patience--and it paid off, that wall is beautiful!!

    Shannon@SewSweetCottage

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  7. i would LOVE for you to link this post or any other posts you want to my weekend link party http://lovenotesbylauryn.blogspot.com/2012/04/spread-love-link-party-6.html it opens at midnight tonight, hope to see you there!
    {love} lauryn @ lovenotesbylauryn.blogspot.com

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  8. I love it, Well worth all the time you put in! Thanks for linking up to Party Time at So Very Creative!

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  9. You are much more patient than I am. The wall came out fabulous. It reminds me of your background on your blog. Thanks so much for sharing at Whimsy Wednesdays.

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  10. Wow! That takes major skill! But it looks absolutely amazing!

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  11. Beautiful! I love it. I am so happy to have your advice. Great job.
    Rose

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  12. Thanks for the tips. I am stenciling a wall in our master bedroom Memorial Day weekend so this is very timely. I would love it if you would link up to my party at http://www.claimingourspace.com/2012/04/tout-it-tuesday-2.html

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  13. Thanks for linking up. I will be tweeting your tips tomorrow night.

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  14. Well it looks freaking awesome! I don't think I would have the patience for that so I may have to have you over to my place :) Thanks for the tips and thanks so much for sharing at Mom On Timeout!

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  15. Looks amazing!! You did a wonderful job. Thanks for the tips and for sharing at SweetTalkin' Sunday!

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  16. absolutely worth your time looks great

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