Freezer Paper Stencil Sign

We moved from the city to the country a little over a year ago.  When we first moved in I was really motivated to make this new place amazing :)  After not too long we realized that there would be a little baby in our future by way of adoption.  All of the work it takes to get ready to adopt as well as the cost put a damper on all of my decorating excitement.

The other day I thought "You know what it doesn't take much money to decorate and this will be a fun challenge for me to get this place looking awesome on budget."  So my first project was this sign!  

The wall in our family room was missing something.  So I put this together.  It's a spay painted frame Goodwill for $3.99 and a sign I made for about $5.  

I have loved this saying for the longest time and I think it's a good one for our family to live by and see often.

I used a cutting machine to cut the saying out of freezer paper.  I wouldn't attempt cutting this out by hand unless you were cutting something much simpler.  

*Make sure your paper is shiny waxy side down when cutting.

Remove all of the letters.  Charlotte loves helping with this part.  Be sure to keep all of the insides of the letters like the one for the "0" Char is removing in this picture.

Cut out your desired shape for the fabric.

I used some material I purchased at Joann's that is a ticker canvas type material.  You can find it over by the burlap.  

Make sure it is straight and lined up where you want it.

I use the highest setting on my iron to iron the letters on.

*Make sure your paper is shiny waxy side down when ironing.  Check to be sure the insides of the letters are waxy side down as well.

You will need a sponge brush and paint.  I sometimes use fabric paint for these projects but only when it will be used on something that will be washed.  In this case any type of paint will do.

Mix your desired color.  I wanted a very dark grey.  So I chose black and white together.

Make sure your brush doesn't have too much paint on it and hold your sponge straight up while painting.  When you paint you are doing more of a dabbing motion.

Your #1 goal with this is to not let the paint bleed under your wax paper.

 I think it's best to wait until your paint is mostly dry to remove the wax paper but I always get too excited and can never wait.

For any wax paper that is left behind I use tweezers or a pin to remove.

When the paint is dry iron your fabric face down to remove any warping the paint did to the fabric.

I wanted a point at the bottom of my sign so I used a ruler to measure and then cut.

I wanted my sign to be nice and sturdy so I cut out two pieces of my fabric the same size.

Put the right sides together and sew them together across the top.

Iron the seam open.

Turn it right sides out and iron flat across the top.

I always mark where to stop sewing with two pins close together.  Sew almost to the top on both sides with wrong sides together leaving room for your stick to thread through later.

You can see here I sewed all the way to the bottom.  I left the point not sewn because there was no need.

Here is where your stick will go.

Great perk of living out in the country.  I can walk outside when I need sticks for my craft projects. :)

Push your stick through the not sewn section at the top.

Tie on your string and you are done!

Thanks for reading!

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