Stenciling Fun

I did it!

(Remember my Word of the Year? It's working!)

My normal way of operating is  this.....

.....get a great idea and get all excited about it.

....gather all the materials needed to accomplish said great idea even if it means taking an entire day and a tank of gas to do so.

....get busy catching up the next day with the things I didn't get done when I was off shopping.

....put materials away because I don't have time to do the project right today.

...or today.

...or today.

....weeks later, come across the materials while digging for something else and wonder why the project seemed like such a great idea in the first place.

Can I get an Amen?

The color is green, but it looks more yellow in these shots.

Please tell me I am not the only one. Please.

Yesterday, I broke the cycle!

Because of the snow, I ended up with a day of canceled plans. Throwing caution to the wind, I used that time to stencil the feature wall in our basement.

I didn't over-analyze it or come up with a list of reasons why I shouldn't just begin.

I just DID IT.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but this wall is "bow-y". This made it a little challenging.

It took me about 3 hours, but I think it was worth it.

Did I do the job perfectly? No.

Am I going to paint over it and start again? No.

This mirror is going to cover up the plugs on this wall.

I'm counting on our short attention spans and eagerness to look at the next "shiny" thing to help all the imperfections disappear.

A few days ago, I read this blog post, written by someone who sounds a lot like me.

And I watched this video to get some stenciling tips.

Then I proceeded to wing-it.

Here are some things that worked for me, and some things I will do differently next time.

1. Use a little roller like the one I bought from Sherwin Williams.

2. Pour a small amount of paint at a time onto a paper plate.

3. Roll most of the paint off onto paper towels before ever touching the wall.

4. Relax when you get to a corner because the stencil is flexible and forgiving...mostly.

5. Next time I will start at the ceiling instead of the floor and use a level rather than try to eyeball if the stencil is straight.

This is my inspiration fabric. I'm using it on a chair and pillows.

Four hands would have made this job easier. It was kind of hard at times trying to position the stencil, with the roller handle between my teeth, while standing on a chair.

My hubby would have helped me, but probably not on my schedule, and he is such a type A that we would probably still be measuring things trying to get it exactly straight!

It would have been done perfectly, but in this case "good enough" is good enough.

I'm ready now for the fun part of putting on all the finishing touches!

What about you, girls? Any stencilers out there?

Linking today to......

Between Naps on the Porch