DIY VIntage-Style Famers Market Crate & How to Stencil With Paper

The wood crates like I used for this project are pretty easy to find at craft stores. Mine is actually my Kappa Delta sorority crate from college and it’s about 10 years old. It was already painted white and I didn’t really have to do any aging to it since it was a bit beat up from all the moving I’ve done since my college days. I just cleaned it well and got to work designing the text and images.
To keep stenciling cheap, I often use sheets of 12×12 scrapbook paper. I get packs of it for $4.99 in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. It’s often a pack of not-so-pretty or out-of-season Holiday sheets but since I’m just using it once and then throwing it away, it saves a lot of money. The key to stenciling with paper is using a respositionable adhesive stencil spray. I use this Krylon Easy-Tack one shown in the images below. One can lasts me a few months and I do a ton of stenciling.
After you cut a stencil, just spray the back and let dry a few minutes before applying to your surface. Then I just use a spouncer to lightly apply a coat of paint over the stencil and then carefully pull the stencil paper off while the paint is still damp. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite for the text/designs. On a bigger piece like this, you obviously have to work in sections, allowing your previous work to dry well before moving on to the next section.
I used my Silhouette CAMEO to create and cut the stencils, of course. It takes some measuring to get the layout “just so”, but it’s not complicated to do. Just measure your piece and make sure the designs and text are sized to fit appropriately.
Dawn {Dawn Nicole Designs}
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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