How To Create a Vinyl Stencil (without a fancy machine!)
I’m popping in today to share a quick and easy DIY with you. I shared an awesome embossed chalkboard yesterday, but while making it, I realized that I had never shared my cheap and easy trick for making a custom stencil. I’m telling you, you’ll never guess what I used.
I know there are some amazing machines out there that cut gorgeous, custom stencils of all types… but what if you only need it once every few months? Or you just don’t have it in the budget right now? Never fear, I’m here to tell you how to create a vinyl stencil. The secret? Shelf liner.
Yep, normal old shelf liner, like this
.
If you’re an artist, you can simply draw your gorgeous image, cut, and use. But if you’re artistically challenged like me, you can print an image out from your computer. Then use a pen to trace the edges with very firm pressure.
The pen will leave an impression in the shelf paper as you can see here (I traced the P, but the laurel wreath is merely an impression).
Then use your utility knife to cut out the image. Don’t forget to place it on cardboard or some other surface you won’t damage.
After that, peel off the back…
And place the stencil.
That’s it! You can see for this one that the precision wasn’t perfect. I could have been more careful, but it didn’t matter for this particular project. Close was good enough, and I therefore managed to create this stencil in about 5 minutes.
What do you think, could you do it?
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What a fantastic idea Rachel!!!..Need to add the shelf paper to my craft room supplies!…Love the stencil!…Have a great weekend and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thank you so much, Shirley! I hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day. xx
Thank you Rachel and Happy Valentines Day.
You are so welcome! Happy Valentine’s Day. 🙂
wow, great idea Rachel! Thanks~
Thanks so much, Jenna!! xo
Thanks for the tutorial. I bet you could etch on glass with this technique too.
What a great idea! Shelf paper would be perfect for etching glass… Thanks so much!
what I do is: find a print able stencil (Google) – print it out – laminate it (most people have a lamination machine and the sheets are easy obtainable and cheep) – and finally cut it with x-acto blade.
Lovely! Thanks can’t wait to give it a go!
So glad you found it helpful!
Thank you beyond words! You just helped me save a lot of money on custom-made vinyl stickers that I needed for making bleach stencil tshirts! Money is quite tight right now, since I just started nursing school this year. Even though my loved ones do not expect a gift from me, I would still like to gift them a thoughtful and personal present for Christmas. I am so grateful for your post that if kisses were snow, I would be sending you a blizzard right now. <3
Roxanna, I am so glad that the tutorial was helpful! I’m sure your loved ones will enjoy your gifts. 🙂