Stenciled Burlap Wall Art Tutorial

Back in the Spring, when I was 'Junkin' in Jammies', I practically stole acquired some great old frames that I had no idea what I would do with, but knew that I could not pass up!  One of them turned into a sassy little message board for my kitchen and a much larger one I set aside for a back porch art project.  And there it sat, through June, July and most of August, while the kids and I busied ourselves with all things summer!  Truth is, I knew I wanted to do something on burlap, but I was a little stumped about what I wanted it to say.  But with summer coming to an end and our back-to-school prep in full swing - it hit me!

Voila!

The PERFECT wall art for our favorite summertime destination:  our own backyard!

This project was quick, easy and fun to do - so here's how ya get 'er done!

Supplies:

Frame of your choice

(I chose plastic since it was going outdoors!)

Craft paint - pick your color

Small brush

Burlap

Thin piece of wood cut to fit

(You can have that done at your local home improvement store if

you can't slow Speed your husband down long enough to do it

and they'll do it for free!)

 Spray adhesive

Poster board

Craft knife

Paint pen (optional)

For the Frame:

Remove any inserts in the frame and cover your work area to paint.  This happens to be my dining room table - ha!

Using a small brush and craft paint, apply a small amount of paint to your brush and brush across frame.  I use recycled meat trays for easy, disposable paint trays.

This 'dry brush' technique allows some of the color underneath to show through.  This technique works well on frames with lots of molded detail.  I considered painting another color underneath first, but I liked the gold.

Let dry completely before inserting your art!

For the Insert:

Lay your burlap out with your wood that has been cut to fit on top and trim burlap close to the edges of the wood.  Spray wood with adhesive and then cover with burlap, working from the center out to smooth out any wrinkles as you go.  It took more adhesive than I thought it would . . .

For the Stencil:

This might be another 'ghetto graphics' tutorial, but it worked for me without a lot of headache (but a fair amount of hand-ache) by the time I was done.  There are plenty of other stenciling techniques out there, but this made the most sense to me for some reason.

First decide on your phrase and font style.

Then print them out on your computer using your word processing program.

Geesh - Looks like someone needs a pedi!

Anyhoo, once you like the size and layout, grab your poster board.

I simply affixed my lettering to the poster board with good old-fashioned Scotch tape.

Looks good!  Now cut through the letters and the poster board using your craft knife.

I did this on a self-healing cutting mat, but if you don't have that, make sure you put something underneath so you don't ruin your surface while cutting!

Make sure you save the 'insides' on your letters for stenciling!

Does anyone else have to work in these conditions?!

Once you've completed your stencil, remove the paper and lay it out over the burlap covered insert and start to paint!

After seeing the positive ravings about Sharpie paint pens, I decided to buy (invest) in a package of them and let me just say - "I'm hooked!" 

They really do work great and made this job easy-peasy without having to worry

about bleed through since my stencil wasn't vinyl, etc.  Yay!!

Almost finished!!

Paint might have done a 'darker' job, but I'm certain it wouldn't have been as clean.

Now, just insert your burlap-covered, fabulously-embellished , one-of-a-kind wall art

into your beautiful 'new' frame and along with the last taste of summer . . .

ENJOY!!

Sharing this sassy project at Mop it Up Mondays, Debbie Doo's Newbie Party, Wow Us Wednesdays, Cowgirl Up, Whimsy Wednesdays, Show and Share, Overflowing with Creativity