In this Furniture Stencil How-to, Michele and Ken Hiley of Stiltskin Studios share one of their favorite tricks for adding a surprise to their painted furniture tabletops: Stenciling the table leaves that are generally inserted when entertaining with a beautiful complimentary pattern and finish. While we love the flexibility of dining tables with leaves, the leaves themselves,however, always pose a dilemma... you see, we typically only use our leaves during the holidays. This means that while the tabletop is being used and abused, the leaves are stored away, staying pristine...and when we drag them out to use, they TOTALLY: a) don't match b) make us realize how much wear our tabletop has sustained throughout the year! We simply paint and stencil the leaves to coordinate, but not match, the tabletop. This allows us to pick up a fun accent color that we might not want for every day use and get a little creative with our painted furniture! When we want to get creative, we immediately pull out my paint and formulate a plan...a plan that always includes a fabulous stencil design from Royal Design Studio.

Royal Design Studio Stencils and products seriously changed the way we think about stencils We used to have visions of boring ivy borders and single color roses...along with not-so-fond memories of paint bleeding under the stencil borders. We were NOT fans Turns out, Royal Design Studio stencils are beyond hip...so many cool designs, it's hard to choose (which would explain why we have so many!) We now have an entire stencil library...and we still covet more! Another surprising thing we learned along the way? Stenciling is really pretty simple if you have the right tools and listen to the experts Once you've painted the surface and allowed it to dry (stencils look amazing on stained wood, too!) you're ready to get started. Here's what you'll need for your stencil project: Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint Colors and Soft Wax: Our table had two leaves, and the French Menu Lettering Stencil was perfect...fortunately, it fit the width and we only had to measure the length in order to position our stencil for maximum impact.

Step 1: Tape Stencil in Place While spray adhesive works great, we save it for larger stencils being applied to walls or other vertical surfaces... when working on a flat surface, we find that simply taping the edges works great.folding chair rental fairfax va Step 2: Load Your Stencil Brush-Then Offload!cello chair online purchase We made sure the leaves were firmly together, then taped on the stencil, starting at the upper edge You'll want to DAB your brush into the paint...we prefer to just dip from the Stencil Creme paint that is in the cap.zero gravity chair pillow Now off-load your paint on to your paper towel or rag until your brush is nearly dry...a wet brush is NOT your friend here!mesh office chair brisbane

Step 3: Stencil with a Soft Touch We like to applying the paint on the stencil itself before we apply it to the area to be painted. second hand wheelchair buses for saleThis ensures any extra paint is removed before you move into the open stencil areas.anti gravity chair canada You'll notice lots of paint all around the font in the photos...that's because they best way to apply paint when stenciling is to swirl your brush in a circular motion. Remember, you can always add more paint. Here's why we prefer Stencil Cremes from Royal Design Studio: Once, we wanted white, so we purchased a stencil cream from the craft store...It was too thin and after four passes, still not opaque. Then, when I went to wax the stenciled area, off it all came! Trust us on this...for long-term durability and ease of use, stick with what works best!

Once we've completed our first pass on the stencil, we like to do a second pass with the Stencil Cremes in the same fashion. We want opaque coverage, and a second pass makes sure we get it! Royal Design Studio Stencils feature built-in pattern registration marks, making it easy to perfectly line up your stencil for the next section. In this case, much of the stencil was left hanging off the leaves. We found it was best to support this section in an upward fashion, rather than letting it hang down...we simply held that section up, which ensured the stencil on the table stayed lying flat. We repeated the process on the second section. Once dry, we applied a thin layer of Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax over the leaves. After allowing it to dry we applied Annie Sloan Dark Wax, thinned with mineral spirits to create a "glaze", removed the excess. allowed it to dry and then buffed lightly. Now the utilitarian leaves are a focal point! In fact, we LOVE this French Menu Lettering Stencil so much, we have BIG plans for it in our own home... stay tuned!

Want to see more furniture decorative with our stencils and Chalk Paint® decorative paint? View our latest collections WE DON’T FOLLOW TRENDS IN FABRIC, WE HELP YOU SET THEM BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED & MASTER CRAFTED FABRIC THE BEST DESIGNERS SAY FABRIC MAKES THE ROOM - BUT WHAT MAKES GREAT FABRIC? DESIGNED BY THE BEST & SETTING TRENDS IN AU & UK HIGH QUALITY FABRIC TESTED FOR WEARABILITY & FADE RESISTANCE EVERY FABRIC COVERED BY THE WARWICK GUARANTEESon of former world champion boxer scores brutal knockout The son of former world champion boxer Kostya Tszyu recorded a solid win in his fourth professional fight on the Joseph Parker undercard in Auckland. Unbeaten Crusaders demolish hapless Bulls The Crusaders have continued their perfect start to the Super Rugby season, embarrassing the Bulls 62-24 in Pretoria. Squire out for six weeks with injury A broken thumb has put loose forward Liam Squire's place in the All Blacks side for the British and Irish Lions Test series in doubt.

Gold Coast playmate outrages locals with nude shoot on sacred mountaintop A Gold Coast Playboy playmate has outraged Maori locals in New Zealand by posing naked on top of a sacred mountain. NZ ad song a 'blatant ripoff' of Eminem One of the composers of Eminem's song Lose Yourself has told a court it's never allowed to be used in political ads because it would threaten its "integrity". Rapper Eminem takes New Zealand political party to court US rapper Eminem has launched court action against New Zealand's ruling political party, accusing it of using an unlicensed version of his hit "Lose Yourself" in a campaign advert. Read breaks thumb in Crusaders win A broken thumb to All Blacks captain Kieran Read has spoiled the Crusaders' 48-21 defeat of the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. Injuries strike three All Blacks veterans Injuries to three key All Blacks have suddenly thrown a spanner into their preparation for the British and Irish Lions series. French tourist attacked by shark in New Zealand

A French tourist has survived are shark attack in New Zealand, suffering only moderate injuries, rescuers and locals said. Kiwi schoolboy takes Anzac Day peace protesters to task A New Zealand schoolboy became embroiled in a row with anti-war protesters who unfurled a banner at an Anzac Day ceremony. Teen's voice brings family to tears in 'The Voice' blind audition Last night, The Voice returned with a bang. It's looking like this year could be one of the best yet, with an all-star international line-up. New Zealand reflects on Anzac sacrifices Good weather has brought out big crowds for Anzac Day, with thousands turning out in both Wellington and Auckland for dawn services. NZ PM to meet officials of Five Eyes NZ PM Bill English confirms he'll be flying to Queenstown this week to meet top officials from the countries involved in the Five Eyes surveillance network. Extremely rare vision emerges of Antarctic blue whales eating US researchers have managed to capture the world's largest sea creature feasting on their only type of prey off New Zealand's coast.

Spiders create massive web over New Zealand hilltop Thousands of spiders have cast a vast web over a New Zealand hillside after recent floods forced them to higher ground. Brisbane bride's three-hour NZ flight turns into nightmare 23-hour journey When Brisbane bride Olivia Wardrop left for the airport with her fiancée and baby daughter they had no idea it would be 23 hours before they finally arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand. NZ's cyclone Cook: 'The worst is over' After hammering the Bay of Plenty, Cyclone Cook moved quickly south without causing as much havoc as feared and is now southeast of Cook Strait. NZ woman jailed by Bali court for drugs A New Zealand woman has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison by a Bali court after being caught with ice at Denpasar airport. Flooding, power cut as cyclone hits NZ Trees and powerlines are being downed as Cyclone Cook arrives in the Bay of Plenty. SBW sole Blues change for Hurricanes