When in a crunch....

Last week Don was asked to make large stencils for Adanu, the charity he is working with for the school buildings.  He came home and said they need to be 3 feet by 3 feet.  My reaction was one of panic. Stencil materials sold in stores are at best 12” by 18”.  My mind went into a spin of what the heck can we use that is durable, easy to cut, thin, and can be rolled up to get over to Ghana in checked luggage.

After some time double checking the internet and no time to order the stencils made from a specialty shop, I went in search of whatever may work at the various stores in our area.  I looked at For Sale signs but they didn't come quite large enough and would probably crack if rolled.  Next up, carpet padding but it isn't thin enough and would absorb too much paint. I even looked at car mats and desk mats but they have those carpet grippers on them.

Off to the vinyl flooring which I didn't hold out much hope for since it is usually sold in boxes of 12” by 12” tiles these days. I got lucky because they had pre-cut rolls that were 6 feet by 9 feet and affordable. It was also nice and thin so it’d cut easily and just like regular craft stencils it won’t absorb the paint and will be durable to use over and over.

I bought the flooring and brought it home.  Don took it to work to project the images and get them traced for cutting.  Everyone was floored and excited because they never would have thought to look at vinyl flooring as an option for making stencils. Don will finish the last stencil tonight and get it packed up with the others.

When in a crunch always look in the most unlikely of places to find what will work. So if you ever need to make large stencils cheaply; head to the local home improvement store before spending lots of money elsewhere.

I now have a pin for Pinterest that doesn't seem to be represented much, if at all, so thanks for the challenge! I'm glad I met it with creative success.

The front of the flooring and flip it over to trace out your design.  Don uses a ruler, box cutter and Xacto knife to cut it out.