Saturday, October 18, 2008

Letter Paint: Freezer Paper Stenciling a Name Bunting


If you want to make a name bunting, but don't feel up for applique work, freezer paper stencils are a quick and simple alternative for the lettering.

Supplies:
  • Exacto knife
  • straight pins
  • an iron
  • some clean brown paper, and
  • freezer paper (also called butcher paper). It's like waxed paper, but it's only coated on one side.
Draw or stencil the letter outlines onto the paper side (NOT the coated side) of your freezer paper. Leave a wide space between the letters to prevent painting mishaps. Cut out the letters with an Exacto knife. You will need to leave some connectors to hold the centers of letters like o and a.

When you've finished with your letters, cut them apart leaving a wide margin on each individual letter. Center the letter outlines on your pennant flags and pin them in place.
Iron lightly to affix freezer paper to pennant. Use some clean paper to prevent the freezer paper from leaving residue on you iron.
Remove pins and iron again. Press hard and use high heat. It's important to solidly affix the letter outline to the pennant to prevent the paint from bleeding.
Once the stencil is firmly affixed fill in the letters with fabric paint. I used three coats to get a bold white against the dark green.
Allow paint to dry fully before peeling off stencil. Tip for the impatient: a blow dryer can rapidly speed drying time.
Once your stencils are peeled off, you are ready to finish your name bunting.

8 comments:

Mimi-n-Moe's Mom said...

That is so cool! I need freezer paper. I am guessing there is a difference between wax paper and freezer paper...I have read there is a difference.

adrienne said...

hiya mimi-n-moe's mom:

Yes, freezer paper is only coated on one side. The paper side allows you to iron it without having it melt to your iron or press cloth.

It's great stuff. We keep dreaming up shirt designs for Ranger and hope to freezer paper stencil some of those soon.

Leciawp said...

clever idea!

Unknown said...

I've never seen freezer paper for sale (in OZ) - in a pinch, could I use waxed paper?

adrienne said...

Lara-

I think that waxed paper would make a huge mess of your iron.

Freezer paper is sometimes called butcher paper outside the US.

Flickr has an interesting discussion on this very subject: http://www.flickr.com/groups/fpstencils/discuss/72157594360582088/

:)
adrienne

adrienne said...

clickable link:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fpstencils/discuss/72157594360582088/

Unknown said...

Thank you! That is so helpful!


And congratulations on the new arrival :)

Anonymous said...

This is the second year in a row I've promised myself to buy freezer paper for this very same type of thing....