iStencils Recycle

 Calling all my fellow craft queens (and kings)! If you’re anything like me, you have a drawer full of stencils you used once and then haven’t touched in months. Or more likely, you have a bin full of craft supplies that you found/bought, excited to use, and completely forgot that they were there. I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I? Well, it’s time for some spring cleaning! Believe it or not, stencils aren’t just for painting and tracing; you can use the physical stencil as a focal point in virtually any craft. That’s right, you heard me correctly. Turn your used stencils into quality decorations for your home or office.

For blogging purposes, I started with a brand-new stencil, because our readers deserve the best of the best. Quite obviously, you can use any stencil, custom or stock, but I chose to use my favorite iStencils repeat pattern Ex’s and OH’s craft stencil (94-00082 R SC). You can recycle your stencils any way you wish; I used our “recycled” stencil to cover an old candle holder we had in our office. I started with one of the larger stencils, an 18” x 18” iStencil. This way, I had more room to play if I wanted.

I measured where I wanted the stencil to wrap around the glass, and cut it down to size before painting. Your stencil will already be painted, but I cut it down beforehand to conserve paint. Now, this is one of those classic “do as I say, not as I do” cases. I completely loaded my stencil in paint for the sole purpose of this project. But you must always remember, when stenciling, you want to use the dry brush technique as less is more.

Once my stencil was entirely covered in paint, and completely dry, all there was left to do was glue it into place. Pro Tip: Hot glue evidently doesn’t stick to glass. However, clear packing tape works wonders. If you put a piece of tape over the desired area on the glass, the hot glue will easily stick the stencil to the tape. This project maybe took me all of five minutes, if you include the painting process. With your already used stencil, this would take you not even a minute to complete. This is a great way to recycle that good Mylar and to clean up some of that “craft clutter” you’re constantly being reminded of. Spring cleaning has never looked so good!

Happy Stenciling- Susie