a few weeks ago, i was going to do a craft inspired by this pin:
Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via terra on Pinterest
but i couldn’t find my birch tree stencil and i still can’t!
in the pin she used a canvas. i don’t like canvas and i didn’t have any. but i do have wood. and a lot of it.first i picked out a rectangular piece. then i changed my mind and decided a triangle was more to my liking.
in the pin they covered the surface in magazines. the first time i set out to do this project i had planned to use pages from a book. but i had some newspaper that my flae market finds were wrapped up in, so i decided to go with that. there is always something nostalgic about running across old newspapers years later, so by using it as the base i will always be able to look back.
starting thoughts/concerns:
- should i have sanded the sides of the wood?
- will the newspaper be a thick enough base or will i be able to see through it?
- do i care?
- should i spray paint it first?
- color options: green/blue, light pink/red
- i could tape off around the shapes to be able to use lots of paint
once it was dry i penciled the stencil on. i don’t trust myself to just straight up paint it. i couldn’t see the lines very well, so i decided to outline them with marker. at this point i picked pink and orange, inspired by a flower arrangement i saw online. once the top was done i took a piece of card stock, traced the shape on it and cut it out with an x-acto knife. i then was able to use the cut-out to keep the design going on the sides.
my plan was to paint over the design, but i kind of liked still being able to see the print through the color. i also just ran out of time. i did paint the orange one, but very lightly. and yes, i “forgot” one on purpose.
this is the end product, for now.
i am not sure that i won’t do more to this one. you can see the color changes depending on if there is mod podge under it, or not. i have thought of sealing the whole piece and then drawing over the top again. i could also still paint it. in the future i need to not be a stenciling wuss, but overall, i really like this one.
you?
ahoyfriend. 
I like it!