Mandala Stenciled Pillows

As much as I wanted to skip this step (because I’m impatient to get to the fun part), I forced myself to do it. I pre-washed the drop-cloth remnants, and it did soften them immensely. Just throw them into the washer for a short cycle with detergent and one cup of white vinegar. Then iron them while still a bit damp. 

Place a piece of cardboard behind the fabric to absorb any paint that leaks through. Next, place the stencil on top and tape down the edges. I used stencils from Stencil Revolution, and I was blown away by their hip and fresh designs!

I used two colors for the first pillow and alternated waves of pink and orange. I overlapped some of the cut-outs with both colors to create a more fluid design. I applied the paint by pouncing the s ponge brush up and down, and it worked well.  Do not remove the stencil right away; allow it to dry for about 2 hours before removing it. You’ll be wowed by the finished design.

For the second pillow, I used 4 different paint colors (purple, blue, green & metallic gold), and once again I overlapped the colors.

Now that your design has come alive, there are so many options… frame it? make it into a pillow? a tote? I decided to make pillows out of these designs, and you can find an easy tutorial for sewing a drop-cloth pillow  here. If you prefer taking a short cut, there are lots of ready-made linen pillow covers on Amazon. You can also find good deals on pillow inserts. Either way, you’ll end up with some very cute boho throw pillows.