Stencil Revolution DIY Projects – Totes, Tees & Décor

I love doing crafts and making personal pieces of my own.  The thing with me though is I need some guidance first to get me started.  Usually I cull ideas and projects from magazines, but for today’s post I was given inspiration by STENCIL REVOLUTION.  Stencil Revolution is a small company based out of Florida owned by close friends. They make reusable stencils for crafters with a laser cutter. It’s pretty cool!

Stencil Revolution sent me a number of stencils at no cost to get my ‘craft’ on, and to share with you all my thoughts on the product. Most of the stencils I received were sizes that were good for apparel and signs, but since Stencil Revolution has their own machines that makes them incredibly flexible. They can go up to 55″ x 35″ in a stencil on a single sheet! 

The stencils were mailed with care, in a great flat cardboard envelope and clean sheets between each one.

I haven’t had a chance to use all of them yet, but I did put three of them to use already.

How fun is this?!  The Beach Vibes stencil was just perfect to use on this lime green reusable tote for summer time outings.

STENCIL REVOLUTION Summer Tote Bag

Using STENCIL REVOLUTION stencils is easy enough, but there is a bit of a learning curve depending on what you are doing with them. 

For the tote bag project I used acrylic paint and textile medium.  Textile medium is a clear liquid found with acrylic paints in craft stores that you mix in to the acrylics to make them ‘fabric’ paint.  A good reason to use textile medium is that you can use acrylic paints you may already have or to have a broader range of colors to choose from than what fabric paint has to offer.  It isn’t expensive, about $2.50 for a 2 oz bottle, and a little goes a long way as you mix it approximately 1 part medium to 2 parts paint. 

This was the first time I have used textile medium so I did have a bit of bleeding that we had to touch up.  The medium does not change the color of the paint but it does make it thinner so keep that in mind.

Stencil Revolution stencils are cut from a durable Mylar so they are semi-transparent, sturdy and reusable.  Now imagine the above photo like the first one I posted with the completed tote.  Covered in yellow, blue and bright pink paint.  Dried on.  With a little dish soap and a sponge…

and I didn’t even really scrub, I probably could have made it good as new if I would have tried harder 😉 

I really enjoyed using the textile medium, so I decided to try another fabric project with the knowledge we gained with the tote bag.  A T-shirt!

I made sure to wash and dry the shirt before painting.  This time I added a little less textile medium and used sponge brushes.

Once the paint dried, I threw it into the dryer to set the paint. 

I have a ‘bit’ of a coffee addiction 😉  I am SO thrilled how this t-shirt came out.  I CANNOT wait until the weather cools down so I can wear it!

And lastly I used a Pineapple Stencil Revolution stencil and Stabilo fine tip marker pens on cork for a décor project.

Cork is a little tricky to use because of its texture and fragility, however I feel it is an under used canvas in art projects.  

Using a black Stabilo marker I traced the stencil onto the cork.

You need to take it slow as the detail is fine and the surface of the cork isn’t ideal as it causes friction with the marker tip, but it’s well worth the effort for the end result.  Honestly I could have just left it as the above.  I find the black outline on the cork very old world and classic.  But I did want to put a hint of color to it, so I used green and yellow to accent the pineapple.

I then removed the glass from an existing 8×10 frame we had in our home already, inserted the cork drawing and we now have personal unique art on our credenza to greet our guests when they come through our front door.

Using Stencil Revolution stencils is fun, easy and anyone can create projects from t-shirts to décor with them.  If you’re a bit intimidated try a stencil that is a little less intricate for your first project.  There are lots of different ideas on what to use stencils for, and how to use them on your projects, so please visit the Stencil Revolution to see them all.