A Stencil Tutorial

I had some of you ask, how I did the harlequin pattern on my kitchen table, or how to stencil.  So I thought I would throw together this simple step by step tutorial.

Click on any picture to enlarge.  Click again to enlarge it further.

First I painted 3 coats of the base color I wanted on the table and chairs.  I used Masion Blanche by Sherwin Williams.

Next, I found the exact center of my table to start the pattern.  I table the stencil to the center of the table with blue painters tape.

The stencil has small holes in each corner (registration marks).  After taping the stencil in place, I took a pencil and marked those holes, so that when I lifted the stencil to start the next section, I had a place to align the stencil.

I used a regular paint brush to stencil with.  I put a small amount of paint (Apple a Day, by Olympic Paints)on the brush, then wiped or dabbed most of it off onto a paper towel.  Then making sure my stencil was down securely, I brush in one direction over the stencil.

I moved across the table.  Then I worked my way up and down.

I finished, by sanding the whole table, taking more paint off in some areas than others.

Then I covered the entire table and chairs with Raw Umber glaze by Valspar.

Here are two chairs, the one on the left has been sanded and glazed.  The one on the right has not.

Here is the finished table I showed you a few posts back.  Today I am going to apply wipe on poly in a satin finished, to the top to protect it.

There you have it!  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments here and I will come back here and edit this post to answer them.

Edited to add answers to questions:

1.  Yes Vee, I will paint again :-) in fact I am working on more projects right now for my Flea Market Makeovers Blog.

2.  Bonnie, I let the paint dry at least 24 hours before I distress it. 

3.  Jeanne, I will be posting my first Flea Market Makeover on my Flea Market Makeover blog this week, and will announce the winner of the French Rooster Giveaway on that blog.  Sign up as a follower on that blog, so you will know when it begins :-).

Welcome Home,

Penny