Learning how to stencil on wood can open up an entire world of possibilities when it comes to the art you create. Plus, if you teach others how to paint, creating vinyl stencils for your students can be a fun, easy way to help them create custom pieces.
How to Get a Vinyl Stencil
You don’t have to have a stencil cutter to use stencils. You can order stencils online, or buy some in stores.
For those of you who are in Paint Party Headquarters, you get the rights to several fun designs! Plus, you’ll get a lot of fun marketing materials to plug and play and grow your business.
That being said, I personally do have a vinyl cutter and use it all the time. There are so many home machines that allow you to do this now, like with a Cricut machine.
What Type of Vinyl Should I use?
I use Oracle 813 vinyl when I make my own stencils. It’s a one-time use, lightweight vinyl that’s flexible. It’s the easiest vinyl to work with for stencils in my opinion!
What Should My Stencil Say?
This is the fun part—it can say anything you want! In this particular piece, I opted to add lyrics from Lauren Daigle’s incredible song, You Say. If you haven’t heard this one, I highly encourage you to listen to it!
Here are a few other ideas for making a stencil:
- Favorite quote
- Family name
- Favorite song/lyrics
- Symbol or image
- Holiday phrase or saying
Honestly, sky is the limit with this one. Even one single phrase can look different depending on the font, size, and color.
How to Add a Stencil to Wood
Now let’s chat about how you practically get your vinyl stencil onto the wood.
Prepare Your Background
First of all, you’ll need a place to actually add the stencil onto. You can absolutely use a plain piece of wood, with or without stain.
Or, you can do what I usually do and add it to a piece of wood that’s been painted. I like to add a lot of color and dimension to my pieces, so I typically have a colorful background, but art is whatever YOU want to make it.
Add Contact Paper
If you’ve ever worked with a large scale stencil like this, you know how challenging it can be to get it perfectly placed on the background.
Thankfully, there’s an affordable and easy solution: contact paper! Yup, that clear stuff you use to cover your drawers and shelves is about to become your new bff when it comes to learning how to add stencils to wood.
I show you exactly how to use the contact paper in the video below!
Cut Out Each Phrase
I like to cut out each phrase and place them individually on my wooden background. If you are a fantastic graphic designer, you can do this as you design the vinyl stencil, but I like to have the flexibility to place each line exactly where I want.
Once you have the phrase down, use the contact paper to adhere it to the wood, then peel away the stencil part—again, the video gives you a fantastic visual!
Smooth the Stencil Down
Make sure that your stencil is fully adhered down. Watch out for any bubbles or parts that aren’t down completely – you don’t want the paint to leak and bleed out from where the words are.
Add Your Paint
In this piece, I use white craft paint. I simply paint over the words with a brush, making sure to have a good, even coat of paint.
Pull Up the Stencil
Right after you paint in the phrase, carefully pull the stencil up. You’ll be left with the painted phrase on your art. Remember, if something goes wrong, you can always paint over it and try again! 🙂 Even if you did what I did and left out entire lyrics or letters—eek. No biggie…it’s just paint! And remember, it’s supposed to be FUN.
Watch the Video
Take a look at the video below to see exactly how to add vinyl stencils to your art piece. Plus, I share some of my favorite business tips for how to make money with paint parties!
Make Money with Paint Parties
If you love making art, why not make some money with it? I have taught hundreds of women how to follow their passion and make money by teaching paint parties through my Paint Party Headquarters. You’ll get access to exclusive designs, tips and tricks for throwing paint parties, and social media and marketing tips.
Plus, we just like to have a lot of fun as a community. Come check it out and see!