Stenciling is an easy and inexpensive way of adding character to any room.
The great thing about the art of stenciling is that you don't have to be an artist to create a wonderful look.
The most ordinary looking walls come to life with the simple application of a stencil.
There are many different designs of stencils available and they can be used in many ways around a room.
One of the most popular being is a stencil border.
This makes an interesting alternative to wallpaper and is far less expensive.
The walls will always have a unique quality and it's easy to find a design that fits in with the theme of your room.
Stencils can also be used on furniture, floors and fabric.
There are thousands of designs on the market that come in all different shapes and sizes.
You can get them in craft stores, hardware stores and art supply stores, even book shops.
Stenciling is not new. It came to North America hundreds of years ago by the Europeans who wanted an inexpensive way of decorating.
All a stencil is, is a cutout. It's usually on plastic like this. Plastic is called Mylar.
It's very strong plastic and it's thin enough to go around corners.
It's a design that you're going to fill in with paint.
You're just going to put this onto your surface and with a brush do the cutout.
Very, very simple. It's kind of child's play.
Now there are different types. This stencil here has been laser cut so it's quite a fine design.
Or you can get stencils that are stamped out.
Now these designs are a little bit more basic and you need to poke out the little pieces before you begin.
You can also get stencils that are made out of cardboard.
Now these are okay but they're not very good for going around corners.
They get a little bit soggy after a while too.
There's also stencils that are made out of brass or metal.
These can be used often for stationery or for small pieces of furniture and little projects.
Not a good idea to use on a wall.
Now if you're doing a border stencil, which is the most common type of stenciling,
look for something that's got a printed repeat mark.
The idea of this is that you stencil the image and then you move the stencil around
and this printed repeat mark goes over the image you've just done.
It makes it very simple and not too much measuring.
Now a lot of people, they like to use stencils that they've made themselves.
Maybe you have some fabric in the bedroom that you want to copy and design a stencil.
So you need Mylar.
Now this is the same that our stencils are made out of.
But this you can buy in sheets from an arts or craft store.
And you're just going to cut this out.
Trace a pattern on and you can use normal X-Acto knives
or you can use these fancy tools which are kind of heat knives which make it very easy.
Stenciling, you need to use a special stencil brush.
These come in lots of different sizes from a bumper brush like this.
And the idea is they should always be flat so that when you pounce it onto the surface
you don't get any leakage underneath.
You don't want to stencil like you would a wall or on a painting.
Now these come in different sizes from tiny little ones like this
which are used maybe for grapes or filling in little areas to an average size.
This is the one I use mostly.
This is about the size of a ten cents.
All these huge ones here.
Now let's go over here and see what kind of paint we use for stenciling.
There's a large variety of stencil paint on the market.
Some design just for stenciling.
Now this is acrylic paint. This is a liquid paint.
You need to be a little bit careful with this if you're using it for the first time
that the paint doesn't leak under the stencil because it is liquid.
You can also use this if you're sponging, if you're using a little piece of sponge for stenciling.
Now they come in a huge variety of colors which are great if you want to mix your own color
or maybe, you know, sometimes to get a cloudy effect.
If you're a beginner, a good type of stencil paint is these stencil crayons.
These are compressed oil paint.
They're great. They're in a, just like a stick, like a crayon
and you scribble this on the edge of the stencil, pick it up with your brush
and you can get a wonderful kind of muted, cloudy effect.
Now Japan paints, these are a liquid oil paint.
These are quite difficult to use.
So practice first or, you know, get a bit of experience stenciling first.
But the good thing about them is that they're very, very durable
and they dry immediately to the touch.
And my favorite type of stencil paint is creams.
They have a skin on the top, so you remove the skin first
and underneath you have the consistency of a lipstick.
Now what's great about these is you'll never get any leakage underneath the stencil.
It's spill-proof and it's also non-toxic.
Now these can be used on fabric. This is very durable as well.
After about four days it's very hard and you can actually scrub the walls or the furniture.
So it's ideal for maybe a kitchen or a bathroom.
Now you can also stencil with latex, with spray paint.
This is great if you're doing a very large area.
Make sure you practice first and make sure you cover all the areas around
so you don't get spray paint everywhere and always wear a mask.
Now you can also stencil with latex paint, normal paint from a hardware store.
Just buy a small amount because you really don't need very much.
And it's ideal if maybe you're doing floors or very, very large surfaces.
Homemade stencils are easy to make, but keep the design simple
so you don't have to do too much fine cutting, since the cutting is the trickiest part.
All you need to draw the stencil is a pencil and a piece of paper
and an eraser if you feel you might need one.
So I'm going to draw some fish.
Now if you're not confident drawing something of your own,
trace it from a magazine or from some picture maybe that you've found.
So we're going to do something very naive.
So I'm going to draw a basic fish and a tail.
That's it. Now fish come in schools of fish,
so we'll do a few which will all be cut from the same piece.
So we'll do another one here.
Not exactly Picasso, but they'll do.
There's a school of fish.
The next step in making a stencil is actually the cutting step.
So what we're going to do is we're going to lay the plastic or the mylar directly over the design
and with masking tape I'm going to secure it quite carefully in each corner.
Using a very sharp X-Acto knife we're going to cut out the fish.
So basically cut all the way around the fish.
Glad I chose something quite simple.
You know there are many stencils available on the market that you can buy,
but often it's fun to create your own.
If you happen to make a mistake in the cutting, you can mend bad cuts with scotch tape.
There we go. That's it.
Then we're going to remove the stencil and pop out the bits of plastic.
The best part of stenciling is the actual painting.
So we're going to put the mylar, or the pre-cut stencil, onto the surface.
Now whether you're stenciling on a wall or you're stenciling on furniture, you must tape it down.
Now this tape is low-tap tape which won't take off any paint that's already on the surface.
This is a good idea.
Now the most important part of stenciling, believe it or not, is paper towel.
The reason for this is when you're stenciling, often what happens is the paint,
if you put too much on, leaks underneath the stencil.
So what you must do, whether you're using a brush or a sponge, is take off the excess.
So you have a very, very dry brush or sponge.
Now you can use any type of paint.
This is liquid paint, normal commercial paint from a hardware store.
And I'm going to use sponges.
These are little pre-cut sponges, because I'm lazy, that you can actually cut up a kitchen sponge.
And what we're going to do is we're going to dip the sponge into the paint.
The most important thing, as I said, is now remove the paint.
So there's very little on there.
Now, over the cutout, we're just going to stencil the shape of the design.
This is really child's play.
It's also a great thing for them to do on a rainy day.
So you see what I'm doing? I'm building the colour.
Starting with a little bit and building it up.
So if I do another one, same thing, add a little bit more paint.
Stenciling, you use very, very little paint, so don't go off and buy gallons of a colour.
You need a very small amount.
I'm just doing one.
Now, if you want to stencil a second colour over the top, the rule for stenciling,
using a brush or a sponge, is a separate one for each colour.
So we're going to apply the yellow, remove it,
and we can just get very creative here and add a little bit over the top.
There you go.
Now, we're going to remove the tape very carefully.
This is reusable tape, so keep it on one side,
because you can put it back on your stencil when you repeat it.
And remember, when you're stenciling on a wall, it's a good idea,
do a little pencil mark where you want the design to go.
Let's remove the stencil, and there we go.
Freshly stenciled fish.
We're going to make our own stencil from this fabric.
Now, the easiest way to do this is with a photocopying machine.
Now, this is what it looks like.
All I've done is cut a piece out, lay it on the machine,
and I've taken here the exact size.
But the good thing about doing a photocopy is you could make the stencil larger or smaller.
So here I've done a second one from the pattern.
So let's make a stencil from this.
Lay it on the top.
Make sure it's really secure.
We don't want to move.
Okay, and with an X-Acto knife, we're going to very carefully cut out the design.
Cut right along the edges.
Then we're going to pop the whole thing out.
I actually stuck two pieces of Mylar together on this
because this is quite a long stencil.
Okay, let's finish this off.
Take your time cutting the stencil.
It's an important stage.
Now, the stencil's finished.
I'm just going to put a black mark.
This is going to be my registration mark so that when I place it on the wall,
I can always get it in the center.
To enter it, just take the tape off right in the middle of the bow.
One there and one here.
It's a good idea as well to make two stencils so you've always got a spare.
There we go. That's it.
We've made our stencil.
Dry brush stencil paint is an oil-based paint that comes in small pots
and has the consistency of lipstick.
You must use a stencil brush with this type of paint.
Now, these paints are like a cream, and they're my favorite way of stenciling
because they're the quickest and the easiest to work with.
You can either pounce the brush in a dotting motion or swirl the brush around.
This builds up the color to give the depth of the design.
Paint sticks are the same as dry brush stencil paint,
but they come in the form of sticks or crayons.
They must be used with stencil brushes.
The idea is to apply a blob of paint from the stick onto a corner of the plastic
and then pick up the paint with the stencil brush.
Now, apply it to the pattern in the stencil,
once again building up the depth of color.
When you're stenciling with more than one color,
you must use a different brush for each color.
This way, they won't look muddy.
On this grapevine, I have four colors, two greens, a brown for the twig,
and lastly, a purple for the grapes.
I'm going to use a tiny brush for the grapes to keep the colors separate.
Stenciling a border is easy to do.
It's important to first measure exactly where the stencil will go.
Use a long ruler and a pencil.
You can erase the marks when the stencil paints dry.
When you decide where the border will go,
take into consideration window doors and ceiling height.
When the measuring is finished,
the top of the stencil should align with the pencil mark.
Stick the stencil to the wall with low-tech tape, or you can use spray adhesive.
Most designs have either printed repeat marks or small registration holes.
When you've completed the first section,
move the stencil either to the left or the right, aligning up with the repeat mark.
Here I'm working in a room with inside corners.
To protect the other wall from smudges, I've applied a piece of tape.
This will be removed when I finish this section.
Because stencil paint, if applied correctly, dries to the touch immediately,
remove the tape and apply it over the freshly painted stencil work
to once again protect it from smudges.
Make sure the stencil pattern is aligned up perfectly
so the pattern flows around the border.
Stenciling a border can be hard on the arms,
but it's possible to stop and start when stenciling.
There's no harm in having a break every so often.
If you stop for several hours,
put the brushes in plastic bags to stop them from drying up.
Never work with wet brushes.
Always clean brushes when you've finished for the day
so they have time to dry overnight.
Every room has inside corners.
This is the most difficult part of stenciling a border.
It just takes a little more time,
but it's important to have clean corners.
Use stencils that are flexible enough to bend around the corner.
First put the stencil in place,
then cover the other wall with tape to protect it from smudges.
Complete the stenciling up to the corner.
Now this can be a little tricky.
Then remove the stencil.
Now place the stencil on the clean wall
and protect the newly stenciled surface
once again from paint and smudges.
This way, with a bit of patience,
you'll have perfect corners.
Many stencil designs are versatile
and can be used in many different ways.
All you need is a little imagination.
Stencils are also reversible.
If you want a back-to-back image of the design,
just wipe off the stencil paint thoroughly and then flip it over,
and you'll get the reverse image on the surface.
When you're painting a lattice,
the base coat can be either oil or latex.
It's better to use latex, though, because it dries so fast.
Now for the first step,
we're going to make the lattice work with masking tape.
Now it's important that you must use low-tech tape
or you're going to pull off that base coat.
Now all we have to do is make a diagonal right across the surface
of the wall, and then we're going to measure.
This can go anywhere.
We're going to measure four inches all the way down the lattice.
So four inches, four inches.
This is really easy.
See the white, which is going to be the base coat,
this is really easy.
See the white, which is going to be left underneath the lattice,
is going to be basically the white wood.
It wants to go on this way.
Make sure it's straight and you want to have perfect squares.
Like I said, this is the boring bit.
Make sure all the tape's down nice and firmly.
We're going to go in the other direction.
Now I'm doing the lattice four inches.
You don't have to.
Four inches is basically the size of the diamonds
that you get on the lattice.
Now the next thing to do is to put one piece going in the other diagonal.
Once again, anywhere else on the wall.
And measure four inches going in the other way.
So we just keep going all the way down.
Now with the magic of television, we've got one ready.
So here we go.
That's what it looks like.
Make sure it's all pressed down really smoothly.
I'm going to give it a coat of latex paint.
Now choose a nice sky blue colour, but not too dark,
because remember we've still got to stencil over the top of this.
So we're just going to quickly, with a brush, cover the whole surface.
When the whole surface is complete, we're going to take off the tape.
Let's remove this one.
And here we have one where I've removed all the tape,
wiped up any bits that might have leaked underneath.
That's it.
Now we're ready to stencil.
So this is a stencil.
What we're going to do is we're going to apply this to the wall.
Very easily.
Now on these stencils, you've got different shapes all around one theme.
So on this one we've got different ivies, different pieces and a bunch of grapes.
And you can use any type of paint.
You can use stencil liquid paint or these, which are a kind of creamy type of paint.
These are the best, I think.
So we put some onto the brush.
You only need a tiny little bit.
And all we're going to do is swirl it around.
If you wanted to put several colors on one stencil, there's one rule.
And that rule is you must use a clean brush for each color.
So maybe we want to make this a little autumnal.
See, the brush is coming in different sizes.
But for this kind of stencil, you can use any size.
The bigger the brush, the quicker you'll be finished.
So we put a bit of red on.
And with a new brush again, we'll put a bit of yellow on.
See, this will make it a little bit more creative.
Okay, now, remove your stencil.
Now, a quick tip.
If you wanted to make this stencil look more realistic, we're going to wrap it underneath the vine.
What you do here is lay this on like that as if it's growing.
Use a bit more of the tape just to secure it.
Now, where the stencil goes over the lattice, we're going to protect it with a bit of tape.
Right over the flat bit.
Once again, stencil it in the same way.
I mean, this really is very easy.
The masking tape is the bit that takes the time.
But stenciling with a friend, you can whiz around that kitchen in a few hours.
So that's it.
Now, take this off.
And you'll see what happens.
The stencil looks like it's going underneath the lattice as if it's growing.
So then that's it.
We can add a couple of bunch of grapes.
Here, once again, I'm going to use another color.
I'm going to use the purple.
The grapes.
I'm going to add a little bit of red just to make them a more realistic color.
But once again, use your fresh brush because what will happen as you get around the room,
you'll end up with muddy colors.
There. That's it.
There's our bunch of grapes.
Now, remember, you can turn a stencil around so you've got the images going in the opposite direction.
But make sure you clean one side first.
When you're finished with this, wipe it off with paper towel, put it back in its packet,
and this should last you a lifetime.
So there we are.
There's stenciling a lattice.
Very, very simple.
Stenciling on furniture is really easy.
Just mark with a pencil exactly where the stencil will go.
Now hold the stencil in place using low tack tape.
You can use any type of stencil paint for furniture.
Here I'm using latex paint.
Make sure to use very little and take off the excess on paper towel so the brush is relatively dry.
If you don't, the paint will leak underneath the stencil.
If this happens, just wipe off and do it again.
Basically, you're just building up the color to the desired effect.
I'm adding a second darker green to some of the leaves just to give the design some depth.
Now by turning the stencil around, I can create a different pattern.
When the paint is dry, stencil furniture should be given at least one coat of low-luster varnish for protection.
Practice first before stenciling on fabric because if you make a mistake, it is permanent.
First secure the fabric to a hard surface using tape or spray adhesive.
Then secure the stencil in the correct position.
You can use either fabric paint, paint sticks, or dry brush stencil paint.
All these are washable.
You know curtains, napkins, bed linen, and even clothes can look great stenciled.
Stenciling is a wonderful creative art.
It can be as simple as these fish or as elaborate as this wall garden.
The technique of stenciling is easy, whether it's a simple pattern or a more complex one.
It's just filling in the holes of a design with paint to create a great unique look.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you have any questions or other problems, please post them in the comments.
Thank you for watching.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you have any questions or other problems, please post them in the comments.
Thank you for watching.
If you have any questions or other problems, please post them in the comments.
Thank you for watching.