Crafting: Stenciled Lamp Shade

I've decided to get a hobby. No, really. I know I have mentioned my issues with finding things I enjoy and that I am good at, and I have decided to do something for myself: craft making. I want it to be a regular thing, taking on bigger crafts as I get better at it. I dragged Matt to Michaels last night before our dinner date at Red Robin, and went craft supply happy.

Before our date... Evee came along this time :)

My first project was stenciling our lamp shade. My room in college was full of bright colors, in hopes that I would always be in a good mood. While it had that effect, I always had trouble relaxing in it. So for Matt and I's room, I wanted it to be a place where we looked forward to winding down and falling asleep. The furniture is while, and the room has various blues and teals as the color scheme. It has a hint of a beach vibe to it as well.

Awhile back I found a white lamp base and teal lamp shade on clearance at Target (my favorite store for everything.) I loved the color, but wanted to add a little detail to it.

the before

and after!

These are the only materials I had to use:

(stencils, paint, brush, tape)

I found little themed stencil books a long time ago at Michaels and ripped out the pages I wanted to use. Any stencil will work, as long as the material is bendable.

I think that was the most trying part of the whole project for me: getting the stencil page to conform to the lamp shade shape. If it is not completely flattened to the shade, paint will get underneath the make a blobby looking design. After being unsatisfied with the first and second design, I used a twice to amount of tape and less paint on my brush, and they turned out a lot better.

And when you take off the stencil... finished product!

Next project: denim flower headband, inspired from a few craft blogs I have been following.