DIY Stenciled Frame + Free Inspirational Printable

Did you know that stenciling a wooden frame was this simple and could be complete in under an hour? It’s true and there’s a video to show how easy it is too!

You’ve heard me talk about my friend Natasha who owns the shop 302 woodworks before, and the best part of being her friend is when I say “what should I make” she has a million ideas and quickly gives me a new project to make!! 

I have so many frames in my house from her shop, and I’ve gotten both unfinished ones and ones she has painted as well. But this time I tried my hand at painting one and not just a solid color (which I’m REALLY good at!!). She always says how easy it is, so I knew that I needed to take her word for it. I took a video of the whole process to prove how easy it really was. I was shocked!!

I made this frame for a Secret Santa gift, and I can’t wait to see how she likes it. Wanna know a secret? I’m sending it to Laura from Laura’s Crafty Life. Talk about pressure to make sure it’s awesome so that she’ll actually use it. Nothing like sending something crafty to another crafter to make you question your skills!

Ok, now lets get down to the easy tutorial

Supplies:

• Unfinished Wood Frame
• Base Paint Color
• Stencil Paint Color
• Cricut Stencil Material
• Cricut Explore Machine
• Paint Brush
• Spouncer Paint Brush

1- Paint the whole frame, including the sides and inside the picture opening. Then let it dry at least 20 minutes and once dry to the touch you can do back and paint more layers until the frame is covered with a solid coat of paint.

2- Pick your pattern out of the circuit design space. Size it according to your frame. My frame was 11.5″x13.5″ so that’s the size I made mine (you can’t go more than 11.5″ wide). It automatically adjusted my cutting mat to a 12″x24″ because of the size. Then connect your Cricut Explore machine to the computer and hit go. Turn the dial on your machine to custom and then on the computer, pick “stencil material (circut)” from your drop down list. 

3- cut your Cricut Stencil Material a little longer than your image, and place it on your mat (make sure to use a 24″ mat if it’s gonna be longer than 12″). Now load it into your machine and hit cut!

4- Remove your stencil from it’s backing (do it CAREFULLY……it will stick to itself!) and place it on top of your frame. You decide what you want to use. You can either use the negative shapes that were cut out or use the whole stencil. Just remember wherever the stencil is, that’s what will be showing your base color.

5- Using the spouncer brush, paint the showing wood. You don’t want too much paint on it, so I always dip it in the lid or very top of the paint and then dab the excess off onto a paper towel or paper plate. Then dab the paint all over the frame until all the showing wood is covered. 

6- Remove the stencil from the wood, slowly so you don’t get any of the excess paint on anything. Then if you want to distress it a little, you can use very little paint on your spouncer and brush it along the edges every once in a while. That’ll give the frame a more antiqued and used look rather than a brand new crisp look.

Now all you have to do is tape your picture or saying into the opening. Since this frame doesn’t have glass or anything to hold the picture inside, I just use some duck tape or packaging tape to hold it in place on all 4 corners!

 I made a free printable if you wanted to print it out for inspiration as well. Not only is trying new things HARD, but it’s also completely rewarding as well. Like learning how to paint beautiful frames for your home decor!!!

Download the “Try New Things” printable here.