Stencils

Do you remember these stencils?  Now I hate to date myself, but I certainly DO remember using these stencils as a child at Christmas time.

The picture to the right shows the back of the package. I found these stencils last week in small pharmacy in Rhode Island. As soon as I saw the package, it brought back fond memories of my Mother pouring out some Glass Wax onto a plate for us to dip a kitchen sponge into. We would then “sponge” the pink Glass Wax through the stencil onto the windows. Once dry, the Glass Wax turns white, so it looks like snow. The great thing about using Glass Wax is that your windows get cleaned when you remove the designs.

Can you see the price on the tag???  $1.49!  Yes, that is 32 stencils for only $1.49. Talk about getting a big bang for your buck!

The stencils come in a variety of sizes in this package, small, medium and large. This photo shows a snowman stencil that is partially punched out. The sheets are all precut, you just need to punch out the silhouette for each stencil design.

Here it is, completely punched out and ready to use. This is a great stencil set for children.  The pages have a plastic coating that wipes off very easily and makes them quite durable for paper stencils!

Being my Mother’s Daughter ;-), I just happen to have a can of Glass Wax in my cupboard, so I will be stenciling my windows this weekend when I have a little more time. I’ll post some pictures next week.

In the meantime, I found this great little tutorial on YouTube!

Editor’s Note: At publication time, some of the original Glass Wax stencils, as seen on the YouTube Video, were listed on eBay. If any are still available, examples should appear below:

Vintage Glass Wax Christmas Stencils US $5.99 (1 Bid) Auction Ends: Wednesday Jan-07-2009 8:07:39 PST Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item

Vintage Glass Wax Christmas Stencils US $5.99 (1 Bid) Auction Ends: Wednesday Jan-07-2009 8:12:43 PST Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item

VTG 1956 GLASS WAX CHRISTMAS STENCILS MINT UNOPEN PKG! US $15.99 Auction Ends: Saturday Jan-10-2009 21:09:07 PST Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

With the Holidays fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to explore the use of stenciling on foods. A little research quickly revealed some fun sites and ideas!

Jan Dressler of Dressler Stencil Company, shows us how to stencil on cookies on the DIY network. (Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Jan on Stencil Talk!)

Canadian Living Magazine shows us how to dust a stencil design on the top of a cake.

Some great culinary stencils for cake tops, sides and cookies can be found at Fanciflours.

Inexpensive cookie and cupcake stencils can be found at ShopBakersNook.

And of course, the Queen of All Things Good, Martha Stewart, has a multitude of stenciling ideas for food items on her wonderful site. This one, in particular caught MY eye:

They are called Tuile Leaves and are made using a leaf stencil, formed around a rolling pin to give them the illusion of floating leaves. Too clever!

I had so much fun doing this research that I will bring you a few more such sites over the next few weeks.

For the past year or so I have been doing a lot of very large scale stencil designs. Sometimes the size of these stencils can be a bit unruly for one person to deal with solo on a job site or in your own home, so if you can have an extra pair of hands around to help with positioning, it will make the process go a little easier. That said, I’ve almost always done these large stencils solo, so it is definitely do-able! A good repositionable spray adhesive is key.

I have found some great inspiration and designs over at Helen and Rachel Morris’s blog, Design Inspiration, which is the Stencil Library’s blog site. Their Big & Bold stencil line and some creative ways to use these designs can be viewed here. Other oversized designs can be found in the Larger Than Life series.

This Sticky Weed design is one I have used several times. It’s quick and easy when done in one color with a roller.

When I first saw this Fennel design on the Design Inspiration blog, I knew I had to have it. I’ve used this design on several jobs to date, including in my own home. It works well in both residential and commercial settings.

I love the idea of blowing up a design, such as this Rattan, in an extra large size. I used this on a small ceiling in an entryway of an apartment building.

Nancy Schnell of FairyDust Creations, has also had some opportunity to work with the Big & Bold collection. Here she has used the Dandelion design on the walls of her client’s hallway. I am now pitching this same idea to a day care center I have been doing some work with. They have some perfect, long hallways, just waiting for something fun like this!