Today I’m playing with Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land -  its a DIY linky party  -  so I thought I would revisit one of my popular posts – Stenciling with Swarovski Crystals.

Stencils -  my advice to every DIY’er at home?  Shop online – you will find a way cooler selection, than Michaels or a Hobby Lobby.  You can visit this post I did about great stencil sites,  or sit with a cup of joe and google your brains out.

For this particular room, my daughter’s room,  I used Royal Design Studios Kimono Collection Stencil set -

I used the paint colors that were used for the stripes (my daughter chose the colors) -  for fun I grabbed a Modern Masters Silver Metallic paint to add some pizazz.  You can find Modern Masters Metallics  at many of the local Benjamin Moore stores – you can find them in 6 oz sizes for $10-15 bucks (a little goes a long way).   Get yourself a can of 3M adhesive – it will help prevent bleed -

Plan out your space.  Do you want stencils everywhere?  Or maybe just a focal wall?   How will you vary the pattern if there is more than one style?   An easy way to plan – get some blue tape, rip off pieces and, walking around your room, stick them on the wall where you think you’d like to see a stencil.  If there is more than one stencil pattern, write a number or letter on the tape – ie)  A,   B,  C    -  that way you can prevent using the same pattern too close together.  When you have your space layed out,  step back and take it all in -   you may make some changes – that’s okey, better now than regretting it later.   Think about where you’re furniture will be -

Lightly spray the back of the stencil and afix to wall (make sure your floor is covered where you are spraying – those adhesive sprays get into the air and float everywhere…)  Decoratively stencil your pattern using various colors of paint -  offload your brush onto a sheet of paper towel before you attempt the stencil – it will help prevent bleed -

Then, the best part-   adhere Swarovski Crystals! I like the Swarovski Crystal Flatback and use  E6000 Industrial Strength Adhesive – it can be found almost everywhere – Target, Walmart, CVS…..  These little gems come in almost any and every color – and they will, guaranteed, be the WOW factor of  your stencil finish.  I order my Swarovski Crystals from Dance Shopper – I found they had the best selection, where you can order small enough quantities, and the price is competitive.  I got this great color chart, back in the day, that I covet.  I’m told you can’t get it anymore -look at all these yummy colors!

Squirt some E6000 adhesive on a paper plate. Dip a toothpick into the glue and touch it to where you want the crystal. It won’t run.   Using tweezers (or a spitty finger) grab your jewel and adhere to surface.   I won’t lie and say this isn’t tedious – but how about these results?