Thanksgiving Placemats

Looking to brighten up your dinner table this Thanksgiving? Get crafty and add your personal touch with stenciled placemats. This project is great for beginners and stenciling professionals alike.

Using felt placemats (which we found at a local arts and crafts store), we measured our stenciling surface and proceeded to pick out our stencils to fit within the area. You will find a great selection of Thanksgiving stencils and fall stencils on iStencils. However, if you’re looking for something that is a bit more personalized, you can create a custom stencil in either our design studio, or submitting for a quote on our sister website StencilsOnline.

To begin the project, start by taking one of the stencils and spraying the back with a temporary spray adhesive. We have found that it is best to allow the glue to sit for a few seconds to become tacky enough, before adhering it to your desired surface.

When placing the stencil, pat it down onto the placemat to make sure the stencil is flat against the surface, and you’re ready to start stenciling.  

To reach maximum results, we suggest painting with a stencil brush, and using the dry brush technique. It is best to apply the paint in minimal light coats, in order to achieve a nice solid finish without the paint bleeding underneath the stencil.

The stenciling process is the same for each stencil, with the exception for with the “Give Thanks….” Stencil. We used a few different paint colors to make the words stand out from the rest of the text. To attain this same look, you should wait for the initial color to dry and then add a light coat of the second color over your desired words (in our case, the “Thanks” and “Grateful”).

This is an easy and relatively inexpensive project, that took less than 30 minutes to complete. You can keep it nice and simple with an iStencils design, or create a custom stencil with your favorite quote! Your family and friends will be in awe at the beautiful homemade placemats!

Happy Stenciling- iStencils