stenciling – Melodrama

DIY Decor: Mid-Century Inspired Dining Room Wall Stencil [Part 1]

Published on August 31, 2015 by Krys6 Comments

I’d grown really bored of having plain greige walls in my dining room for awhile now and wanted to add something a little more interesting to the small space. First, I painted my front door a bright shade of coral, but that just made the actual walls feel even more boring.

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YAY for my new coral entry door! Before it was basic. Now it's fun 🎉 Next up is a wall project. (The color is Tropical Coral by Glidden) #HouseofMelodrama

A post shared by Krys Melo (@melodrama) on Feb 15, 2015 at 1:09am PST

Since I rent and can’t exactly put up wallpaper, so I had to rely on paint or decals. I didn’t want to paint the entire room a different color so I decided to try stenciling. I had trouble finding a design that suited my style, until I found Cutting Edge Stencils.

It was hard to choose, but I went with the Beads Allover pattern. It has the mid-century vibe that I needed to pull together the style of my home. I could have gotten fancy with different colors of paint, but I just went with standard black so the rest of the colors I plan on bringing into the room will pop.

I was nervous, but I’m happy to report that these stencils are amazing and easy to use. You just tape the stencil to the wall and roll your paint right over it. You can the look of wallpaper, but the ease of being able to just paint right over it.

I was done in a jiffy! No more boring wall.

Tada! I love it so much I’ve decided to continue it all around the room! Stay tuned for part 2 of my stenciling extravaganza.

DIY: Stenciled “Welcome To The Shit Show” Door Mat

Published on April 14, 2015August 4, 2015 by Krys5 Comments

I’ve been in need of a new welcome mat for like a year now, but I haven’t found the right one that I loved enough to invest in. Luckily I spotted these colorful and inexpensive door mats at IKEA. I knew I could probably stencil my own design onto it, and for $8 I really had nothing to lose. It turned out perfectly and it’s totally me.

I couldn’t think of a more (in)appropriate way to welcome guests into my home than with “Welcome to the shit show”. There always ends up being something weird or unexpected happening when we have people over, so this is basically a fair warning of what you’re getting into when you come over.

To make this happen, I had to first make a stencil. I printed my letters out and then used an exacto knife to cut the letters out of pieces of card stock.

I repeated a letter in the beginning of each new stencil so I could align it with the last letter stenciled. That way everything would be in line properly.

After I decided where I wanted the stencils to go, I just taped them to the mat and used a sponge to put regular craft paint on.

Keep the details of the letters by leaving pieces of them connected, you can fill them in later.

Use a small brush to fill in any spots and do any touch ups that are needed. After it dries a bit you can use a small pair of scissors to clip away any mistakes and sharpen up the lettering.

Let it dry over night before putting it out. I don’t know how well the paint will hold up to being stepped on, but I can always go back and do touch ups, so I’m not worried about it.

DIY: Mid-Century Googie Style Glass Mugs

Published on March 24, 2015August 4, 2015 by Krys1 Comment

Sometimes I find myself perusing the tablewares section for things I totally don’t need but always end up buying anyway. One of my most recent unnecessary purchases were these little 69 cent glass mugs from IKEA. I figured I could use them for something or another, and I thought the shape was pretty cool, but I thought they needed something to jazz them up. I decided to give them a midcentury, googie style makeover using craft paint and painters tape.

First I found some midcentury style clip art and printed it so I could make my stencil. I used an exacto knife to cut the shapes into painters tape.

Then I applied the tape to the glass in a random pattern.

I used a screen printing method to apply the paint. This is where you put on a drop of paint and use a squeegee to drag it across and fill in the stencil to create a smooth finish. You can use a sponge or brush, too, but it probably won’t have as smooth of a finish.

Make sure to remove the tape before the paint dries. Otherwise the tape will take the paint off with it.

Let the paint dry for about an hour and then place into a cool oven and set the heat to 350 degrees. Let bake for 30 minutes and then shut the oven off. Let the glass cool in the oven and then remove. The paint will be cured and washable.

Pretty neat looking cups for 70 cents, huh?

DIY: St. Patricks Day Coasters and Party Garland

Published on March 9, 2015August 4, 2015 by Krys1 Comment

I’m no expert on the subject, but what I do know about Saint Patricks Day is that you need a lot of green, shamrocks, and beer. If you’re planning on throwing a St. Patty’s Day shindig, you’re probably going to need coasters for all of the pints of beer that are going to be making their way around your house. Water rings are the worst! Is that just the most obnoxious thing I’ve ever said? Whatever. They totally are.

These round fiberboard coasters are my favorite because they’re like $8 for 50 of them on Amazon, and you can customize them and make them as cute as you want. Obviously I went with green and gold shamrocks for St Patricks Day.

I used my Martha Stewart stencil and paints and just stenciled my little heart out.

That’s seriously all there is to it for the coasters! Just stencil it with a foam pouncer or paint brush, let dry, and then try not to be the crazy host handing coasters out at every turn.

If you get carried away and make too many, no worries, my darlings…

Just string them together with twine to make shamrock garland! All the cool kids are doing it.

I used an upholstery needle and poked it right through the coaster and then pulled my twine through each one. Done and done.

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