hip2thrift: stencils

Let me just start by saying that me and stenciling don't get along very well.

I have failed so many times, that it's not even funny.

When we moved into this apartment, the walls were all white. I kindda liked it, because in previous apartments they were all different shades of tan. We rent, but are allowed to paint. I haven't painted anywhere, because white just felt so refreshing. However, that meant that different

shades of white would look funny. Plus, I was craving some color, so in accessories it went.

So was the case of our bedroom lamps, which I got at a garage sale for $1. It had ugly lampshades and the cheapest replacement shades I could find were at Ikea. If you've ever bought a lamp shade at Ikea and have tried to put it on a non Ikea lamp, then you know that doesn't really work.

Go here to see the Ikea Hack I did.

I then taped a stripe all around at the height where I wanted my first row of chevron to end.

I created a chevron pattern using ScotchBlue Advanced Delicate Surface Tape. I have used other painters tapes before and have hated any sort of stenciling, because of how much paint seeped through. However, this particular tape works like magic (and no..they didn't pay me to say this, although I would happily welcome that kind of thing, as I already love this product).

I used a small piece of the tape to create spaces that would be of equal size of my painted zig zags. And don't worry if your chevrons aren't perfectly symmetrical. Some of mine were wider than others, but I found that as long that the spacing between the lines was the same, then the result was totally acceptable to me.

For the paint, I decided to go with some Martha Stewart Crafts Paint (I bought a set when it came out and it was all over blogland. Oh...I remember entering numerous giveaways for one of those sets, and never won. I gave in and bought one from Michael's) and rolled the paint with a brush that came in the set, that attaches directly to the paint bottle.

I just squeezed the bottle, and rolled the excess paint on a paper plate. I then rolled the paint on the white space between the tape. I removed the tape immediately after every row I completed. It was amazing. I had crisp lines! I couldn't believe it!

Here's my new lamp in all it's glory!

After completing this project, I feel more confident in tackling projects that involve stenciling. What about you...are you good buddies with stenciling?

Have a wonderful week and big hugs,