Superhero Stencils for Boring Decor!

So this is actually a craft I did last year, but I think it might actually be relevant for this section of the blog. Once upon a time, I decided stenciling was a thing I was going to do. The phase didn't last, but I ended up with a couple neat things, including an incredibly boring lamp that got covered with superhero symbols.

Ta-da! (the table top is also a product of my stenciling phase)

What you need:

-Lamp (the shade needs to be a fairly flat shape without much texture. This one was $10 at Target)
-plastic sheet (I ripped the cover off of one of my old notebooks, which was a flexible but relatively thick sheet of plastic)
-craft knife/exacto blade/etc.
-acrylic paint
-small paint brush

That's pretty much it. This is a simple one.

Step 1: Make a Stencil

So there are lots of ways to make a stencil, including many that are probably better than the one I used. However, most of them are dirt simple, and you can definitely do this with whatever you have in your cabinets.

First off, you want to identify the stencils you want to make. I went ahead a picked out the symbols for a bunch of random heroes (Batman, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Speedy, and Red Hood were used here). Then you can either freehand the symbols onto the plastic sheet like I did, or print them out and trace them onto the sheet. Then go ahead and cut them out!

Not shown: all the neat little cut out shapes that I'm saving for the day I finally need superhero confetti

Step 2: Paint the Lampshade

So I tried a couple different ways of doing this, including sponging the paint onto the stencil, which went horribly.

The Dark Knight Gets Hit By a Truck
What ended up working best for me was taping the stencil in place on the lampshade and carefully using a small paint brush to trace the symbol through the stencil onto the lampshade. The goal here is not to get paint under the stencil lines. You can go back and clean up the lines afterward, but it's always easier to add paint than it is to try to scrape it off.


What you could do instead: if you were doing a larger surface and wanted to get it done faster, you could try using a sheet of adhesive foam (craft foam with one sticky side) as the stencil. Without the space between the stencil and the lampshade (or other surface), you might be able to get away with the sponge method to transfer paint onto the shade.

But really, this is just a super easy and fun way to put some personality into your personal effects. Have fun!

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