With summer coming to an end, I wanted to cram one last project in before the outdoor weather became too chilly.
A sad looking wall, that happened to be the side of our shed/under porch area, had been looking bland and boring for far too long.
I knew this space had potential so I did some Pinterest searching for a bit of inspiration. Almost immediately, an outdoor mural search lead me to Cutting Edge Stencils. Their incredible dandelion stencil caught my eye and it was project-love-at-first-site. CES collaborated with me on this project and sent me the Large Dandelion stencil. You can shop that one here. If the large size is too big for the project you had in mind, there are two other options you can pick from (small and medium). I started off by painting the outdoor wall white using two coats of exterior latex paint. My goal here was to go for a clean, fresh-slate feel.
This part of the project was the most tedious. I underestimated how large the space was and it took me a few days to get it done. I was only able to paint while my youngest was napping so this part took some time.
Once the wall was ready for the dandelions, I decided to practice before actually stenciling the space.
We've had these beautiful, worn pieces of wood sitting around so I used them to attempt my first try with the stencils. If you can, I recommend practicing to help give you an idea of what the stenciling process is like before you jump in.
I loved how the "practice wood" pieces turned out so I ended up saving them for another project. (As if we didn't have enough projects around here 🤷♀️.)
Finally, it was time to get stenciling! I chose an exterior gray paint. Here are some flower head close ups to help you better see the do's and don'ts I experienced along the way.
In the photo on the left, you can see I didn't properly dry my brush before stenciling. The brush had too much water on it causing a very blotchy look.
In the photo on the right, the left side of the dandelion has a smudged look to it. This is because I had too much paint on my brush. The right side of the dandelion looks just right! My brush had just a bit of paint on it.
By the time I got to the last dandelion, I felt I really had a technique down.
For small touch ups, I used this very small paint brush...look what happened to land on it while painting!
The final result surpassed my expectations! I smile every time I see this wall.
Cutting Edge Stencils is kindly offering a $50 gift card to anything from their site to one lucky follower. To enter this giveaway, make sure to play along anytime between October 27-29. You can find all the details on my Instagram page, @flowersbynini.
If you end up taking on a stenciling project, I'd LOVE to see what you do. Floors, walls, furniture...the list goes on and on. With Cutting Edge Stencils, the possibilities are endless!
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