Thanksgiving DIY: Stencil a Fall Gallery Wall

by Royal Design Studio

Your own festive Fall wall gallery is a decorative art project that is not only on trend this season, but decor you can use year after year. Style each element together as pictured here or space them throughout your home to keep your holiday decor different and fresh.
This tutorial shows how you can create the three different styles of canvas art. We have chosen stencils from our Fall Stencil Collection, however, as you can see the possibilities are endless in how you can personalize this project.
Time: 2 - 3 hours
Materials:
Chalk Paint:
Old Ochre
Old White
Barcelona Orange
Primer Red
Louis blue
Blended Blue Paint: 1 tbsp Florence + 1 tbsp greek Blue
Blended Green Paint: 1 tbsp Antibes Green + 1/3 tbsp Greek Blue
Blended Orange Paint: 1 tbsp Barcelona Orange + tbsp Old White
Brushes:
Medium Pointed Sash
Large Pointed Sash
2" Foam Brushes
3/8" Stencil Brushes
5/8" Stencil Brushes
Small Paint brush
Stencils:
Tulip Tiles
Ashley's Autumn Heart
Fruit Of Vine Trophy
Staff Of Life Trophy
Typography
Scrolling Leaves
Other Supplies:
Two 16" x12" canvases
Two 12" x 12" canvases
Painters Tape
Bounty Paper Towels
Prep the Canvas: Using a large pointed sash brush, paint the canvas with Old Ochre Chalk Paint. Use long vertical strokes, while wet. Use a medium pointed sash brush to add a few shorter strokes of Old White Chalk Paint. Blend this with the Old Ochre Chalk Paint. Do this for all 4 canvases. Allow to dry.

thanksgiving diy stencil a fall gallery wall, crafts, seasonal holiday decor, thanksgiving decorations

16" x 12" Orange Canvas Art Steps

Step 1: Place the first layer of your stencil in the center of the canvas and secure with painter's tape. Place four more small pieces of painter's tape on the canvas under the corners of the stencil. Use a pen to color in the registration marks of the stencil on the tape. This will allow you to perfectly align the other layers of this stencil.

Step 2: First stencil with the lightest color. For this size, we recommend using a 1" stencil brush. If you apply a higher amount of pressure when stenciling the bottom right sides of each element on the stencil, you will create a 3D shadow effect.

Step 3: Load your stencil brush with the darker color. Make sure to off load excess paint on a paper towel. Then, stencil along the bottom right edge of each element in the stencil to again emphasize the shading effect.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 & 3 with the remaining layers of the stencil.

Step 5: Use a piece of chalk to trace a ribbon like border around your canvas.

Step 6: Once you are pleased with the design use a fine paint brush to trace over the chalk. We used our blended green paint.

Step 7: This is the same process for the 16" x 12" Blue Canvas Art. If you'd like to replicate that project, we used our Staff Of Life Trophy stencil, Louis Blue Chalk Paint, our Blended Blue Paint combination and Primer Red.

12" x 12" Blue Square Canvas Steps

Step 1: Draw 2 lines in chalk to divide the canvas in to 3 horizontal sections. Once measured, apply tape to the canvas using the lines as guides. The first piece of tape should sit just below your chalk line. The second piece of tape should sit just above your chalk line. This placement of the tape ensures the top and the bottom are the same width.

Step 2: Using a foam brush paint the taped off section on each canvas. For our project, we used Louis Blue Chalk Paint.

Step 3: Stencil the top and bottom sections with an allover pattern furniture stencil. We stenciled the Scrolling Leaves Border Stencil with our Blended Blue Paint. To create the same shading effect, we applied slightly more pressure around the edges of the stencil and blended softly to the center.

Step 4: Find the center of your canvas by measuring corner to corner and vertical and horizontal. Next, plan the layout of your message. Double check to make sure it is centered.

Step 5: Stencil each letter with the lightest color first. We used Barcelona Orange Chalk Paint.

Step 6: Without moving the stencil, apply a darker color to the left edges of each letter. We used the Primer Red.

Step 7: To create a 1/8" thin border for each section, use a piece of painter's tape on one side and a straight edge of a stencil on the other to create the line. For our project, we used Primer Red Chalk Paint.

Step 8: To add some flourishes, trace out a couple swirls using a piece of chalk next to the word "give". Once you are pleased with the design, trace it with a fine paint brush. We used our Blended Green Paint to provide some contrast.

12" x 12" Orange Square Canvas Steps

Thanksgiving Wall Art DIY | Tulip Tile Stencil by Royal Design Studio

Step 1: Measure a border around the squared canvas. Determine how thick your border should be based on the size of the stencil that will be in the middle. Once measured, apply painter's tape to mark and protect the integrity of your border. For our project, we measured a 3" border.

Step 2: Use a foam brush to paint the taped off border. We used Barcelona Orange Chalk Paint.

Step 3: For the border, find an allover pattern furniture sized stencil to create a fun textured design. For our project, we stenciled the Tulip Tiles Stencil with Primer Red along the edges and our Blended Orange Paint in the middle.

Step 4: With the border done, place your stencil on the center of your canvas. We used Ashley's Autumn Heart stencil. Stencil each element of the design using each color that was previously used on all of the canvases.

Step 5: Create a thin border around the frame using the Blended Green Paint. This is the same as Step 7 found in the 12" x 12" Blue Square Canvas tutorial.

As the years march on, this stencil project made from the heart will become a cherished keepsake for your family as they grow up and begin to have their own Thanksgiving traditions.

Want some more Fall-themed DIY fun? See what ideas we're thankful for our Fall /Thanksgiving Stencil Collection as well as our Fall Festivities page on Paint + Pattern!