I have been rolling through some home projects. These are the bright ideas I had when I had no time to do them. In these last few months, I have been fortunate to plan, create and make my ideas come to life. Watch my quick video.
Our back patio was sooooo boring. It is old and stained but structurally in good condition. It was just not pretty to look at. I have been researching different techniques on how to spruce it up. I thought my best option was to stencil a faux area rug. I am into farmhouse decor and settled on something white with a simple pattern. I figured it would mask the bland concrete. I did like the natural concrete color and some areas that blue grey flecks poked through the warn areas was interesting to me.
I was not happy with any stencil I found in the stores. I figured this is a job for my Adobe Illustrator skills and something for my trusty Cricut. Creating a stencil was not as easy as I first thought. You need to be precise on all 4 sides. I mean exactly the same, people! I drew out a design, created a vector in Illustrator and cut it out a million times on card stock before it was perfect. I had some Folk Art Stencil Plastic that I loaded into my Cricut. I cut it with a Deep Cutting Blade 11.5" x 11.5" and I was ready to go.
I gave my patio a good power washing and gathered my supplies while I was waiting for the patio to completely dry. It was a super hot day so it only took an hour or so. I had my husband helped lay out exactly the center and we snapped a few chalk lines. This is the key to making sure it all matches up. I got lazy on a row and a few squares did not line up perfectly. This could have derailed me but I kept pushing on. I kept telling myself, it does not have to look perfect, it's hand made! The stenciling process is not hard but hard on your butt and knees and back and neck. It took many, many hours sitting in a crunched position. I did row after row after row until I completed it.
What I learned along the way...
1. Wash your stencil brush periodically. The paint dries and it will ruin your brush.
2. Have more than one stencil. After a row, soak your stencil in hot water to soften the paint and keep stenciling with the duplicate stencil. If there was not a pandemic and Micheal's was open, I would have cut lots more stencils and not even taken the time to clean them. It is very time consuming!
3. Have a pillow or old towel on hand to sit or kneel on. It will save some aches and pains.
4. Measure and chalk straight lines. Don't try to eye ball it because an 1/8" of an inch multiplies over the length of the patio.
5. Have a small dust broom on hand for the occasional leaf or ant that walks by.
After days and many hours of hard work, I am gonna seal the paint with a concrete sealer. I did not do this yet because the weather is not cooperating. It is not necessary, but it was a lot of time and I want it to last.
Thanks for keeping up with all my projects!
Stay Safe,
Stacy
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