I’ve done a lot of stenciling projects over the years shared here and here. I’m also endlessly inspired by other people. There’s a lot of creativity out there! While I enjoy doing a complex project for the challenge of it, life is also very busy. It’s good to have easy projects too. So I scoured the world (okay, the usual sources like Pinterest, Google Images, HomeTalk, Paint+Pattern but those cover the world!) for some good ideas that are:
- Creative
- Easy (and sometimes fast too!)
- Inexpensive
Often these are practical things that you can make prettier with paint and stencils. These projects are easier because they involve:
- One stencil
- One paint color
- Small surfaces
So here they are, the Top 10 Ideas …
Stenciled Grocery Shopping Bag
At Mendez Manor, Nicole stenciled these blank grocery shopping bags she found on Amazon and a stencil found at Michaels. This project is easy and super stylish:
Stenciled Lampshade
Turn a plain lamp shade into something really special. Royal Design Studio shows you how to stencil on a lampshade:
Holiday Placemats
Crazy Little Projects made a cute little project. Holiday placemats could be expensive for only rare use, but it’s fast and easy to stencil a holiday theme on a plain placemat. You could even use them double-sided. Use the stenciled side for the holidays and the plain side the rest of the year:
Simple Lettered Signs
Simple signs but big style! These signs have beachy themes, but Donna at Funky Junk Interiors shares many different sign ideas. These are lettering stencils painted on simple planks of wood. Super easy:
Whoa, Candles
This is a really creative idea. Though I would caution, don’t put much paint on your candle and keep an eye on it while burning it. Just over Thanksgiving, we burned a candle that was heavily coated with paint (much more paint than these stenciled candles) and the paint pooled in the melted wax and the flame shot up. We had to blow it out. I think this idea could be okay on large 3″ diameter pillar candles and if you go light with the paint. This project was done with Mod Podge and sand. There’s a discussion about flammability in the Hometalk comments:
Stenciled Mailbox
I thought I’d seen it all. Because I’ve spent way too many hours of life looking at things. But I had never seen this. A stenciled mailbox? Of course. Why not!
Stenciled Chair Backs
Stencils are an easy way to add one-of-a-kind personalized style to chairs. These beautiful French chairs were given a new look by Cedar Hill Farmhouse blog, with stencils on grain sack fabric, applied to the backs of the chairs. You just gotta see the before picture. You will never believe the improvement!
Now, the chair restoration and reupholstery is professional and may be more complex. But the stenciling part is not too hard and it’s something you can do on chair backs in your home.
Picture Frames
From Shanty2Chic, here are easy and inexpensive picture frames. They look like they took a lot more time than they really did to make them! I think these would make great gifts. Paint frames in a color your friend or family would like:
Okay. How many is this now? 1, 2, 3 … 8! Here’s two more …
Stenciled Pillows
Pillows are smaller and you can get a great effect with a combo of one paint and one stencil on an interesting fabric. And the nautical theme here by Canary Street Crafts is so fun:
Canvas Wall Art
Stencils make it possible for you to create easy wall art. This has a few more paint colors than the ideas above. But this would still be very easy to do. Now that I look at it, this is not a DIY, you can actually buy this set readymade at Michaels! But I leave the idea in because you could do this with stencils:
I hope some of these inspired you to try some stenciling projects! Which would you try first?