This month the Craft Challenge is to make something cute for the home for less than $10. So far I have made a tea pot garland and PJ has made a moustache tray. This week, it's Anja's turn to share her competition project with you. Don't forget that you can link up your own budget project next Monday and vote for which of our ideas you like the best. Until then, here is Anja with her Damask wall stencil project.
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In our monthly Craft challenge, I see myself as somewhat of a black horse... with a broken leg... which will be shot out of pity. But as I am not in it to win it (you see, I am a delusional black horse), I am content to be hopping along with the crafty geniuses out there. As I have mentioned before, my office is the room that hasn't gotten a lot of love since we moved into our new home. That was two years ago, so it was about time to do something about a room in which I work daily. So far, I have collected ideas in my pinterest office board (let's face it, none of those are going to become reality), I have decluttered, I have painted (twice, because I didn't like the color at first), I have re-organized... Still, it is not finished, but I hope to post some before and after pics soon (beware of the before pictures, they are not pretty!) So this month's project is something that I made for my office, but it is so cheap and easy that you could use it on a lot of projects.
I spent about 3€ for a paint sample. That's it. I already had the tools, and the transparency and sponge would not have cost more than 0,50€ if I had had to buy them.
This is what I started with: an old doorway that we had blocked when we moved in (please, can you look at that hideous TV mounting bracket thingy for the other room down there? I've been telling my hubs that it's ugly, but he is pretty pragmatic when it comes to things like these.) The room used to be white, but with the blush pink this blue just didn't work anymore. Those white support things are for the boards I had taken out prior to taking the photo.
First of all you need a picture to start with. Find one and then print it onto a normal transparency. (Check your printer manual for details what kinds of transparency it likes - I don't want to be responsible for melted printer insides.) Place it onto a cutting mat or an old board.
Start cutting with your exacto-knife. Be careful with details that are to intricate - I changed some details about the shape while cutting because it would have been too difficult to use.
For an extensive pattern, place the stencil into the corner of the wall.
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| You can see the details that I didn't cut out in the photo above (in black). I used sellotape to keep the stencil in place. |
And that's it! (Okay, that's a lie, it took me one or two hours to finish the whole doorway.)
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| I even covered that hideous mounting bracket! |
Pros:
- cheap (!!!)
- with a little patience, you can make any shape you want
- not all that hard to use
- transparencies are thinner than store-bought stencils, so they're a bit more complicated to use and to clean (you might only be able to use it on one project)
- size of the stencil is limited to the size of the transparency
- you don't get the same crisp lines as with a store-bought stencil, which is okay for a vintage look, but not for a perfect wallpaper look
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| See that little ray of sunlight in the left corner? It seems that spring is finally here! Btw, those lacy flower pots are from Ikea - aren't they darling? |
Last week, I wanted to live with PJ; this week I would just really love it if Anja would be my interior decorator...on my imaginary house! Living in a flat, there's not too many cute nooks like this. The good news is I know what I might do with one now that I've read about this gorgeous project. I don't envy your choices for the vote next week...I think we all did pretty well this month.
How was your weekend people? We definitely all need a bit of a catch-up.
1 comment
Love it! It is pink and too cute!
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