DIY Stenciled Canvas Art for Nursery/Kids room

It's been two years since we moved to the current apartment and I have not decorated the apartment much as I was pregnant with my son when we moved and then life got busy with the baby. Since his toys and books are increasing day by day and scattered everywhere I needed a proper space dedicated to him. Let's call it his play area, a few months back I got a cube organizer for his toys and books and assembled it in a corner of our living room. I was thinking to do some kind of pretty display above the cube organizer as that area seemed boring. I was brainstorming ideas and wrote down in my to-do list. Emily from Stencil revolution contacted me to try some of their stencils. I thought this will be a perfect opportunity to fill the space I wanted to. As my son loves things that go, I wanted to make a group of canvases with all kinds of vehicles. So, here is how it turned out.

Materials Used:

8 X 10 canvas

Stencils ( Airplane, Tractor, Sailboat, Rocket, Truck, Bicycle )

Stenciling brush

Acrylic paints & Paint brush

Washi tape or Painter's tape

Ruler

Marker(optional)

Picture hanging strips

Leveler (For hanging the canvas onto the wall)

Step 1: Paint the canvases in the colors of your choice. It took around 2-3 coats of each paint allowing to dry in between. I always do the first coat of paint in one direction and then the next coat of paint in the opposite direction and I will repeat this until I get the desired look. (If you are my Instagram follower you might have already seen me sharing this step in stories. Not a follower? Go follow now ;) )

Step 2: Align the stencil and secure it with the washi tape. Some of the stencils are 6" x 6", some are 5" X 6" and two of them are 8.5" X 11". Use rulers to align them in the center of the canvas.

I couldn't find a truck or car stencil as is so I went with Christmas tree truck stencil and covered the tree with washi tape to stencil the truck alone. For the tractor stencil with a wagon on the back, I decided to use the tractor part alone so I ordered 8.5" X 11" size so when using the tractor part the sizing will be perfect. I did the same for the rocket stencil too. Rest of the vehicles were easy to align as I have to just center the stencil and secure it with tape. 

Step 3: Load the brush with paint and use a dabbing motion to fill the stencils. Take a very little amount of paint and dab it a few times in your paint palette to unload excess paint. Then using dabbing motion fill each stencil and remove the stencil immediately once you are done. You will get a clean and crisp stenciled image.  I recommend using a stencil brush for this as it makes stenciling easier but it can also be done using a normal paint brush or foam brush.

If you are doing this for the first time, I highly recommend you to practice a couple of times in a normal paper before attempting to do in the actual project. Why am I saying this? Even though I have stenciled before and I knew I shouldn't load the brush with paint, I got very enthusiastic(and also the urge to finish the project before my son wakes up #reallifeproblems 😏)  and did three canvas continuously thinking I took a very little paint only to discover later that the paint has bled through the stencil. Also, don't worry if this has happened to you. There is a solution to it. I did a couple of coats of paint on top of that and re-did the stenciling part. (It may sound out like repeating the whole process but no, couple coats of paint won't hide the whole image but it does cover the bleeding so when you repeat it you won't see the paint bleeding. It turned out perfect and beautiful. 

Step 4: If you have any light bleeding of paint, fix it using a marker. Your canvases are now ready to beautify your space. Can you spot the difference between the first and the second picture? There was light bleeding of paint in the wings of the rocket and I fixed it using a black marker(Second picture). This is one of my favorite tricks to do when stenciling. 

Step 5: Hang the canvas using picture hanging strips. Lay the canvas in the arrangement you desire on the floor and use the painter's tape to mark the areas. For this particular arrangement, I took a strip of painter's tape to the whole width (including the 3 canvases) of the canvases and centered it on to the wall. I repeated the same for the length. Then used a few strips of tape to mark the gaps between the canvases. After doing it, I first hung the bottom row of canvases then used the same tape for the top row of the canvas. The layout came out perfect. I also used a leveler tool to keep the tape straight. That is all. Isn't it cute? I really love how this project turned out and I am so proud that I hung all the canvas with perfect spacing.

What do you think about this? Share with me in the comments below. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about this project. 

Also, the animal flash cards I happen to have perfectly matched with the color scheme of the wall art so I had to include those cuties in the wall decor. 

Have you done anything like this before? Do you have any tips & tricks for perfect stenciling? If you have any plans for stenciled art do check Stencil Revolution, they have some pretty mandala stencils and also many others like wildlife, quotes, etc. 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Stencil revolution. However, all the opinions expressed are my own. 

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