stenciling galore

To start, let me just say my little girl better LOVE her room. A lot.

So I got the idea to stencil my wall from a nestie, Myst33. You can see her powder room tone on tone stenciling project here (scroll all the way to the bottom). She has some great instructions posted as to how she did the stenciling, so I'll let you read those, and let my visual directions do the talking.

First hubby measured out a 20 x 20 inch grid on the wall. I'll admit it was really fun to see a grid on my wall, because way back when I was in graphics 1 making posters on the grid was my favorite project. The grid was something I could handle well.

I practiced making my stencil shape on computer paper. Then I moved to tracing paper to make the larger shape. I cut my stencil out of illustration board.

While painting I first centered the stencil in the square. Then after all 24 squares had been stenciled (and dried) I centered the shape over the cross hairs of the grid. Thanks for the help Katelynn!! :o)

For the edges I had to cut my stencil up. I had actually made two stencils, because my first one warped so much through the first set of painting. Surprisingly, today the stencil worked pretty darn good because it had dried flat, and the paint then acted as a barrier between the stencil and the new paint, so I didn't experience any warping. If you can find a sturdy plastic material to cut your stencil out of that would be the way to go.

Although the wall needs some serious touch-ups (paint seeped behind my warped stencil) I have to say I am pretty pleased with the results. I think it adds a little fun, texture and whimsy to the nursery. I seriously can not wait until I get everything in here. Two weeks until the furniture arrives!!