Let me be honest with you and tell you that some of my favorite projects are not planned and come together with no trouble at all. This was one of them. You see, I bought that nice gray wool felt to handcraft little keychains that looked like clouds to give away with my business cards at Alt. But they ended up looking like sombreros, so after a dozen I decided to bag the whole project.
Long story short, I had a bunch of nice felt and nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, Tyler came back from the store with a box of freezer paper and right on the box it suggested using it for craft stencil, which I had always wanted to try but somehow thought it was complicated.
YOU GUYS, it is not complicated at all. In fact, it might be the easiest stencil ever. Here is how you can make your own banner.
Supplies: fabric (I used felt, but you could use anything really), freezer paper, iron, paint, scissors, hole punch, yarn (or ribbon), sponge paint brush, and either the Cricut Explore or an x-acto knife.
Process: Cut something into the freezer paper (shiny side down). I used my Cricut Explore to cut out two simple phrases (you are loved, you're the best) in Franchise font. I sized them to be about 2 inches wide, three inches long; set the dial to custom and then chose wax paper; spaced them apart on the mat by moving them around in the preview; and then pressed GO.
If you are using an x-acto knife, you could print the phrases right onto the freezer paper with your printer and then carefully cut them out with the knife. It will take longer, but the end result will be the same.
This is where it gets REALLY easy. You place the freezer paper shiny side down on whatever fabric you have and iron it. The freezer paper lightly bonds to the fabric in an instant! You blot paint your phrase and then pull the paper off. So simple. It kind of makes me want to find more things to stencil.
Once the paint dried, I cut the banners with scissors, hole punched the tops, added string, and then styled some pictures to make them look appealing on Pinterest. Ha!
Time: This took me no more than 30 minutes.
Now go and get some freezer paper and have a little fun!
