Decorate with Stencils

Stenciling is an easy and inexpensive way to add some flair to your house. Stenciled designs look good in the bathroom but can also create amazing effects in your bedroom, kitchen and other areas of the home. And best of all, it's cheap! All you need is an old sponge, a piece of cardboard or plastic, an exacto knife and some left over paint.

First pick the design you'd like to use. It can be a bird, animal, stars, geometric patterns, whatever you want. For this project I decided to do a viking ship! I printed out a picture from the internet and traced it on a piece of heavy cardboard. You can also use a piece of heavy plastic which has the advantage of not absorbing paint and eventually disintegrating. Cut out the pattern with an exacto knife and you're ready to go.
Dip the sponge in the paint and dab it in the stencil, filling in the pattern. Using gloves will help keep the paint off your hands. Don't use a paint brush which will have a tendency to bleed outside of the edges of the stencil. You can cut the edge of the stencil to the distance you want between each stenciling. That way you wont have to measure the distance between each stenciling- all you need to do is lay the stencil next to the last stenciling. But be sure to keep it level! (unless you're doing a random pattern like stars) Snapping a chalk line around the room can really save time here. Work around the room and you'll end up with something like this. Pretty cool looking! And a project which you can do for little or no cost with some things you probably have lying around the house.