Stencil Craft Ideas To Take Your Objects From Drab To Fab

Deco Art Americana Decor Stencil, Brocade Motif

Stencil Craft Ideas You’ll Be Dying to Try Out!

Looking for some really cool stencil craft ideas to embellish the ordinary “stuff” in your domicile? Things like Kleenex boxes, wall hangings, and flower pots can have a second life with this classic technique.

Stenciling is the perfect artform for those occasions when you want to add a little “something” whatever that means to you personally, to something you own but maybe not have to go full-out Picasso 🙂

It’s almost idiot-proof….the greatest emphasis will be on deciding where your stencil design needs to go and doing a neat job applying it and then maybe considerations like repeating the stencil design in a pattern.

Stencils made for arts and crafts range from simple to detailed. There is no better way than the use of stencils to get familiarized with the nuances of craft painting and cut down the “learning curve”!

Supplies Needed For Arts and Crafts Stencil Projects

A fair amount of multipurpose acrylic craft paint is the biggest essential. Amazon has a great selection of these 2-oz craft paints made by Plaid. I’ve had enough of these to fill up a warehouse, seriously, there is every color and style in the world!

Spray Paint: You can also use spray paint (after all stenciling is a big part of the airbrush artist’s repertoire.)

The stencils themselves: Pre-designed templates are great when you are just starting out. There are quite a myriad of designs to choose from.

Small flat brush or roller: I use brushes so I can apply various colors as in this image below of two lampshade designs. This is the same lampshade with front and back patterns.

If you want to create a mono-color design the use of a small roller will work good too.

Tape – You’ll need to place some tape on the corners of the stencil to hold it in place firmly as you work. Blue painters’ tape is the best choice because it goes down firmly but comes off clean.

DecoArt Americana Gloss Enamels Sample PackFolkArt 36050 4.5″ Paint RollerBilipala Laser Reusable Stencil for DIY Decor

The following image shows one of my works. I used spray paint and made the leaf patterns myself with cardstock...Trees are kinda hard to draw sometimes as they have all this detail to them and I wanted a shortcut that would still produce a sorta realistic tree that didn’t look too “flat” or anything.

I made a few stencils; some with single leaves, some with clusters, and walla! It worked great. I did the same for the woman to the left.

What Kind of Things Can You Apply Stencils To?

Canvases, wood, ceramics are some great choices that paint will bind to well. Nonporous surfaces will be pretty easy but semi-porous surfaces work great too. You can use cloth; the heavier the better (e.g., burlap, denim, canvas)

This jewelry rack I made for my necklaces is made out of a scrap of wood I found and did all the legwork of sanding and painting years ago. It looked a little plain, so I embellished it with a few cute stencil cutouts and a little rhinestone bling too.

I used the same cute heart-shaped stencils on this other lampshade here. It is the same one that went over my handmade mason jar lamp. Yep, you can do this too; a simple white lampshade can go from boring to bedazzled with just this technique!

Some Final Thoughts

Some of the best diy stenciling ideas are going to come from ordinary objects – so you won’t have to look far and wide for opportunities. Tissue or jewelry boxes, birdhouses, wall hangings and tablecloth runners offer some great possibilities! You can create continuous patterns, or like the lampshade above, “scatter” the design a little bit.

Tip: Remember to remove your stencil carefully this will minimize any potential paint “fuzzies” or goofs left behind. It’s practically an idiot-proof technique – but you may want to do a “test run” on paper first to see how your proposed design will look once it gets to its substrate of choice.

So, budding artisans, if you haven’t tried stenciling already, what are you waiting for? A treasure trove of awesome stencil craft ideas await you as long as you’ve got paint, stencils, objects and a keen eye for design!