Hand Painted Stool with FolkArt ® Handmade Charlotte™ Stencils

Handmade Charlotte stencils & Folk Art have come together to offer these darling Handmade Charlotte stencils.  There are several selections- from all-over patterned stencils to Celestial themed & even Party themed stencils.  I received the Party stencil pack along with jar of Plaid Chalkboard paint and every-color-of-the-rainbow Folk Art Acrylic Paints.

I was asked to paint a piece of furniture for this project, so I had already selected a plain wooden stool that I acquired when a neighbor moved and left it in their garage.    It has served as a base to elevate my humidifier in my bedroom.

This is the stencil pack:

At first I wasn't sure how I'd paint a furniture piece with a party theme, but soon enough, the ideas started rolling and I was super excited.  To start:   1.  Sand the entire stool.  2.  vacuum the stool to clear the dust.  3.  wipe the stool with a wet rag to remove any lingering dust.  4.  apply base coat of white semi-gloss paint.

The stool dried for approximately an hour before applying a second coat of white to the legs:

Then I applied two coats of teal paint to just the top of the stool:

Allow to dry an hour or so.

I wanted to create a chalkboard bunting across the top of the stool seat.  First, I placed the punched-out stencil pieces on the top for a visual and to figure out the spacing.  You might want to lightly trace the stencil so you can see where to line it up on the surface because the stencil is made of cardstock and is not see-through- making the lining up a little bit of a challenge.  Using the sponge brushes provided by Plaid, I worked from the outside and allowed enough time to dry between flags so I wouldn't smear the paint.  I ended up cutting the stencil apart and only used each flag once.  If you use the same one over and over, you have to be careful to let the paint dry completely on the stencil or you will smear the paint when you place the stencil back down.  I have not worked with chalkboard paint so I'm not sure of the consistency, but it seemed rather thin and as I dabbed with the brush, the paint bubbled.  It wasn't a big deal for me in this project because I have no intention of using chalk on the stool- it was more of a background color.

I had several projects going on this particular day, so I didn't mind walking away and allowing proper dry time between coats and stencils.  At first, I wanted to paint cupcakes in the center of the bunting, but the cupcake stencil was just a shy too big.  The ice cream cone stencil lined up perfectly.  I started with the tan cones and then added the ice cream colors.  Rather than leaving space between the cone and the ice cream (like the stencil, as shown), I placed the ice cream right on top of the cone and then did some shading so the cones wouldn't be just a flat stencil.

I was reminded how much I love to paint with this project.  My son even said, "I knew you could paint, but I had no idea you could do it that well, Mom!"  It has been a while.

After painting cherries on top and allowing to dry overnight,  I lightly sanded the top the following morning for a subtle distressed look.

I can't believe I had that plain ugly stool for so long before thinking to paint it.

No way is this stool going back under the humidifier!  My daughter and I used it for a cute photo shoot last weekend and now it is in her bedroom.  I still have several stencils left to use for other projects.  I'd rather have the stencils made out of plastic to wipe down after use, but the price point makes the cardstock work just fine.  

Thank you so much Plaid & Handmade Charlotte Stencils for the product and inspiration to bring this stool to life!   Follow Plaid on Facebook Plaid on Twitter Follow Plaid on Pinterest.

I wrote this post as part of a sponsored campaign with Plaid and The Blueprint Social. All opinions in this post are my own.