Stencil Door Hanger Tutorial: Love At Home

Stencil Door Hanger Tutorial:

Love At Home

I went to Home Depot a few weeks back and searched through their scrap wood pile until I found these three beauties for a mere 25 cents a piece. I have been trying to figure out what to use them for and it finally came to me at two in the morning while I laid awake suffering from a serious case of jet lag.

So this afternoon I pulled out my new trusty alphabet stencils {you know how I love stencils} and got to work on this tutorial:

Here is what you will need:

3 wooden scraps all the same size {mine were 6 x 13}

Alphabet stencils {purchased at Michaels}

Stencil paint in the color of your choice

Acrylic paint in the color of your choice

Small paint brush for stencil paint

Large paint brush for wood

Wired ribbon of your choice {not pictured}

Staple gun {not pictured}

Pencil

Ruler

STEP ONE:

Paint the 3 wooden plaques in the color of your choice.  I wanted to color to look a bit more textured {not to mention I didn't have the exact color I wanted on hand}, so I mixed three colors to create the shade of turquoise I desired.  I also watered down the paint with a quick splash of water so that the wood grains would still show through the paint:

Note the wood grain still visible through the paint.

Also, if your hands don't look like this then you're doing it wrong {lol}:

STEP TWO:

Prepare your wood pieces for the stencil.  I used a pencil to lightly trace out my letters to be sure they spaced evenly across my wood plaques.  Also, I drew a line across the bottom of each piece at 3/4 of an inch up so that my letters were even and not painted at an angle:

STEP THREE:

Apply a small amount of stencil paint to your small brush.  Hold the stencil tightly in place and begin to paint {you can tape down the stencil if that is easier}. Remember, a tiny amount of stencil paint goes a loooonnnnggg way.

STEP FOUR:

Take a long strip of your ribbon and place it up the back side of your plaques about 1 inch from the edge.  Staple the ribbon in place multiple times to ensure stability.  Leave about 12 inches of additional ribbon for your bow at the top.  Repeat this step on the other side of the plaques.

Flip over your plaques and secure bow at the top with your 2 pieces of ribbon {I ran out of ribbon, or else I probably would have made my bow a bit bigger}. Remember to use wired ribbon because it will be stronger than regular ribbon.

Now, take a step back and admire your creation.

P.S. Don't look to closely, this certainly isn't perfect--but that's what makes it charming, right?!

Happy Crafting!

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