I’ve spent my day in agony! Not just because I had one of my wisdom teeth taken out, but because of the dentist bill that followed! In my brain, I file dentists and lawyers together - you can’t avoid them when you need them, and they’re great at screwing you over. Sigh. Such is life, huh? So today, I felt like doing something relaxing and that doesn’t use much brain-power, but makes me happy - I dabbled in some fabric stencil art! They’re extremely easy to create, so much so, they hardly need instructions. However, there are a few tips that are handy to know.

Things you’ll need: A canvas, fabric, scissors, stapler, paint, paint brush, palette, stencil.

Step 1: Grab your canvas and piece of fabric, and staple one side to the edge. Then staple the opposite side down to make it taut and secure. Staple the other two sides down. Then fold the excess fabric on each corner, and give them a good stapling down too.

Step 2: Find a silhouette that you wish to paint on your fabric. I made this one for my mum, and she adores butterflies and elephants, so I printed this out, then cut around it to create my stencil. You can find some cool free stencils here and here. Or, would you like to get really creative and make a more personal piece? Take a photo of yours, or someone elses profile silhouette with the help of a shadow on the wall, then blacken it out in Photoshop. Check this out for some nifty instructions on how to do that.

Step 3: Trace your stencil onto the fabric covered canvas. Then paint like Da Vinci! Well, not quite, more like Martha Stewart. As you can see in the photo, when the paint is wet, the fabric gets that rippled effect. If like me, you’re using cotton, this will probably spring back once it’s dry. Some other fabrics may need a clear top coat (before you paint) to stiffen it up. Note: An old ice-cube tray is the perfect paint palette!

As the sun went down, the quality of my photos became shit, but you get the idea. You should end up with something like this. A super easy craft project that can produce some really effective results!

Big love,