Stenciling 101

Now that I've revealed the new wall o' fun in our bedroom, I wanted to share how it all went down. In all honesty, I probably went about stenciling in the most difficult way possible, but it was effective so I want to pass on what I learned.

Have you ever had an idea in your head, but couldn't exactly envision the final product? That's how I felt about this project. I scoured the internet until I found my desired look:

via

This was the validation I needed to move forth. I had the vision, I had the inspiration, and I had the wall space. All I was missing was the "how to." Though I usually search the internet for tips to complete projects, I dove into stenciling head first. No floaty, no life jacket, no David Hasselhoff. I was on my own to sink or swim.

I knew the basics. I needed paint (check) and I needed a stencil. I lacked the latter so I headed to the dollar store, spent 53 cents on oak tag and gathered the rest of my already owned supplies.

To create the stencil, I practiced on sheets of paper until I achieved my desired shape. I took a break when I unintentionally started channeling my inner Georgia O'Keefe.

Next, I cut the shape out and traced it onto my oak tag and taped the edges to keep my stencil strong.

I was now ready to begin the process of preparing the space. I used a level to measure lines on the wall to make sure everything would be evenly spaced and straight.

 Next, I tried a few different techniques to transfer the stencil onto the wall:

              1. Spray paint over stencil (runny and stinky nightmare)
              2. Paint over stencil with a brush (too messy and did not result with crisp lines)
              3. Trace the stencil with pencil then hand paint (bingo!)

I imagine using a small roller would make the job much easier, but Little Ms. Butterfingers couldn't figure out how to hold the stencil and roller at the same time. Instead, I chose to take the hard road and lightly traced the shape on the wall over and over (and over) again.

Once I had everything traced, I went in with a small art brush and hand painted every.single.line. I have a steady hand from years of painting and art school so I found this to move pretty quickly. It took  three coats to get the coverage I was after and about six hours over the course of a few days to complete. The result was completely worth it:

And there you have it, my stencil tutorial and my less than one dollar bedroom transformation. It was pretty fun, but if you know an easier way, I would love to hear it!