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daisyduckworth

word stencils

Daisyduckworth
17 years ago

Not sure if this is the right place to post, but here goes anyway!

I want to use spray paint to put plant names onto pots (they'll be names of herbs). That means I will need a stencil. I'd prefer to use whole words instead of separate letters, and that means I'll need to install a suitable font into MS Word to create the words. Obviously, I want to keep it very simple and easy to cut out the stencils.

OK, so I'm a bit thick with arty-crafty things, but can somebody tell me how to cut out a letter like B so that I don't remove all the hole-y bits from the paper left behind?

I found these stencils, but I can't figure out how to cut the letters out, leaving no paper where the letter is - also, this particular sample does not allow for size changes, which will be necessary.

http://www.alphabet-soup.net/ttools/stencil.html

Comments (3)

  • craftylady-2006
    17 years ago

    Hi Daisy - You have a great idea there. I hope this is easy to understand. I'm not so sure you want to use spray paint because the mist of paint it will produce may get onto areas of the pot you don't want it on. My suggestion is: At Michael's Craft Store, Joann's or even Walmart & Target you will find "Plaid Brand" Adhesive Stencil Blanks. Print out your word, I would suggest that you make your stencil letters a little thicker in font size (try just using "Bold font") so you will be able to have something to cut - not just like cursive writing. Here is a pic of a small wooden sign I made using the Plaid Adhesive Stencils and just printing the words onto a plain piece of paper. I made the letters big enough and thick enough so I could cut them out of the paper using an Exacto knife. Go slow when cutting with the Exacto knife, you won't cut what you don't want to be cut. On the corners of the letters, again, just go slow in cutting. I then laid the cut out words onto the stencil, taped it down and then traced the letters onto the stencil with a pen. Then I cut out the letters using an Exacto knife. I placed the adhevise stencil onto the wood and using a stencil brush, painted several coats of the gold paint, letting it dry a bit in between coats. For the letter "e" in Merry, all I did was cut out a piece of the adhesive stencil on the corner of it in the shape of an "O" and stuck it in the whole cut out top of the "e." Same with the "a" in Christmas. Be careful when stenciling with paint. You dab the stencil brush into the paint, you don't want to soak it with paint, just the flat end bristles. Then lightly swirl the flat end bristles onto a paper towel, removing some of the paint. The reason for this step is if you have way too much paint on the stencil brush, it is going to seep under the stencil and you are going to have a mess. Next pounce the stencil brush up and down over the cut out words. Don't pounce hard, just enough pressure to put the paint onto the pot. Let it dry slightly and repeat the steps, paint on brush, pounce onto paper towel, pounce onto pot until you have built up the paint onto your pot to what you want it to look like. Let it dry. Be very careful when removing the stencil from the pot. Don't lift a corner up and rip it off fast like a bandaid (LOL), lift up the two end corners on one end and slowly peel it off the pot - because if you go too fast you're going to "rip" the paint off the pot. Practice on something first - even paper. Since the stencil is adhesive, you can even try doing one letter first, on the first round of paint onto the stencil - easily lift up the corners of one end and peel it back slightly so you can see how you're doing. Then, without pulling on the stencil, lay it back down onto your practice paper or pot. ---- Sal

    {{gwi:1460144}}

    If you don't understand any of this, just post a msg and I will...

  • oddie
    17 years ago

    Sal your sign is so beautiful, I see you have the art of stenciling mastered, please post other photos you might have, I am a visual person, but you sure give good instructions! sorry I have nothing to add to help Iam no good at stenciling, but with sals instructions Iam sure you will do fine
    oddie

  • craftylady-2006
    17 years ago

    You got me giggling Oddie - stencil master - no way. It was the first time I did it with words using the adhesive stencils though and cutting out the words myself. The on-line very pretty word and decoration stencils are expensive in my book. It's the only stencil thing I have, so no more pics - sorry.

    Sal