No-Sew Stenciled Runner with Glitter Paint

I decided to switch things up this Christmas with a little turquoise, silver and white in the dining room. When it comes to decorating my own home for the holidays, I’ve always been pretty traditional – red and gold and maybe for a little excitement, throw in some silver. That’s for my own home.

When it came to clients’ homes or retail merchandising, it was anything but traditional. I did an entire house in purple for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong – it was gorgeous. The client was a self-made single woman and she loved, loved purple. So the 11’ noble in the foyer? Purple and gold. The sweeping bannister? Pine garland with cascading purple sprays. The only room that wasn’t decorated in purple was the master bedroom. We used a flocked tree and adorned it totally in silver and white. Three inch antique silver framed mirrors, silver lame fabric (that’s lam-ay, not lame, btw), yards and yards of white tulle netting and fluffy white feather boas. It was a sight to behold.

Do I miss decorating clients’ homes for Christmas? Yes and no. It’s a small calendar window to get everything done so the stress is high. But the creativity level is high too. Maybe when the economy rebounds I may think about it again.

For now, I like quick ‘n dirty. Like no-sew table runners. When I decide to change the colors up like last minute.

Stencil Fabric with Glitter Paint

I had a couple of yards of cheapie white fabric I was saving to make a light box. $1.50 a yard. I think it was lining fabric or something. I figured for a little runner I could cut one half and still have enough for the light box. That may or may not get made.

Right now it’s not looking to promising.

Now, when I get out my paints, stencils aren’t the first thing that come to mind. But, like I said, I wanted something quick.

After I cut the fabric down the middle I folded it again down the middle and ironed it.

I had a plan, you see.

After being lucky enough to do a couple of posts for Martha Stewart Decorative Paints, I have some cute stencils I thought would be perfect.

Not to mention the perfect turquoise color – Pond – and glitter paint – Turquoise.

I also have these great foam roller tops that fit right on MS paint.

So far, so good. My plan was working!

Of course, figuring out how to lay out the stencil wasn’t part of my plan.

Hmm . . . .

This was not part of my plan. I like the color. And the pattern. But . . .

This was definitely not gonna be Quick ‘n Dirty.

Time for Plan B.

I still had the other half of cheapo white fabric, and I had a large stencil that I was saving for a special post (hint: GiveAway!!!). But this was an emergency! A painting, blogging, decorating emergency! 

I’ll do a featured post about this awesome stencil next week. Let’s just call today a Preview, ok?

Plan B is gonna work. For starters, I used a foam roller.

I lined the edge of the stencil up to the selvage. Yes, I do happen to know what a selvage is. Just because I don’t sew anymore doesn’t mean I didn’t before. Like, years ago. For those of you who don’t sew, the selvage is the edge of the fabric – as if you hadn’t figured it out by now.

I didn’t need to spray adhesive on the back of the stencil either. Painter’s tape worked great. Foam roller worked great. Easy-peasy!

I didn’t even wait for the paint to dry thoroughly before I broke out the glitter paint. Rather than rolling it on, I grabbed a foam pouncer. You get more glitter if you pounce, rather than brush it on. Or, in this case, roll it on.

Now, I’ve stenciled about a total of 3 times in my 54 years. One in August, one in October, and, oh yes, the time when I swore I’d never stencil again, after I stopped swearing.

This makes #4. Thank you so much to Cutting Edge Stencils for having the confidence in my to use their stencil. Or maybe it’s the confidence in their product! More, much much more, on Cutting Edge next week!

Anyhoo, rolling paint on a stencil is one thing, but corners and edges are something else altogether. Cutting Edge thought of that and included a single harlequin diamond stencil so I could even up my edges. Yay! Of course, I don’t think they intended their stencil for a fabric runner. But just add that to the list of things you can stencil.

When the paint dried fully I broke out my Heat ‘n Bond to hem the edges.

Have you used it? Love this stuff! Iron the fusible web side down-paper side up. Let it cool, pull the paper off and press it to the fabric.

When you lift the protective paper you’ll see the shiny adhesive. If you don’t see it, reposition the paper and iron it again. It’s super easy.

Then iron the entire runner. Not just to get any wrinkles out, but also to heat-set the paint. Now it’ll be washable.

Even the glitter paint. Can you see it? It’s hard to capture in photos. Or I should say, it’s hard for me to capture it in photos.

But I love the little sparklies on it. And it took less than an afternoon. Perfect for this time of year.

Of course, you could doll it all up with ribbon, tassels, whatever you want. But for me? This worked great.

Supplies I used:

• Fabric – cut to fit your table
• Scissors
• Stencil of choice
• Painter’s tape
• Ruler
• Foam roller
• Martha Stewart paint – Pond
• Foam pouncer
• Martha Stewart glitter paint – Turquoise
• Iron
• Heat ‘n Bond or other fusible hem tape

Stay tuned for the Cutting Edge Stencil giveaway next week!