Now how could you not want to hang out in this back yard when you are surrounded by tall, beautiful daisies on a wood fence? What a cute idea that went viral once it was published and we couldn’t keep this design in stock.

Our Large Daisy Stencil is so easy to use. Simply stencil the stems, repeating them to any height, add the daisy flower head to the top and then stencil leaves where ever you wish. Stencil with a roller and you will find it a super quick job!
Stencil first in gray and then off-set flowers in white, with some covering gray daisies. It makes for a lush garden you will love! Now, imagine this on a wall inside the house! How fun and cheery!
Our front entries are always the first thing one sees from the street that stand out (or should).
Make your entry door something special with raised plaster stencils!

Giving the raised design a light brushing of metallic gold paint made that door something truly elegant!

Now the front door also matches the interior doors since I did the same design on those as well.
See the project here.
Art is Art no matter what medium you use.
Last year, I saw a post on-line about how to make concrete leaves and just had to try it. I made many and loved every one. Most of them, I gave to my Mother who fell in love with them and now has a yard covered in them thanks to my great pumpkin plants that provided the leaf.
I’ve learned a lot since that original first project and have learned ways to actually create curves in the leaves.
This year, I pampered my rhubarb plant with lots of care and fertilizer so that it would provide me with extra large leaves for my new passion. It hasn’t disappointed!
Start by creating a mound of dirt in your yard. The higher this mound is, the more curved your leaf will be around the sides.
If you dig a small “ditch” around the outside of this mound, you can bend the leaves right in to ditch to make your final concrete leaf “curl” on the edges.
Firstly, choose a leaf that has no tears and has great veining.
Place a garbage bag over the mound of dirt and place your leaf face down over the bag. (Vein side up).
I like to use “Cement All” Rapid Set concrete which is a casting concrete that comes in boxes from Home Depot or Lowe’s. This product has no rocks in it like Quickrete does and it’s boxes are convenient and easy to carry.

Put some of the concrete in a bucket and add water a little at a time. Stir with a garden shovel to the consistency of pudding.

Completely cover the leaf with a thick layer of concrete. I cover mine at least an inch thick.
Allow the concrete to set up completely. If it’s warm to the touch, the process is not yet complete.

Once cool, lift the leaf from the mound.

The original instructions say to let the leaf dry then use a wire brush to remove the dry leaf from the concrete. I found it MUCH easier to remove the moist leaf right away!
For deep veins, it’s sometimes necessary to use a small, flat head screw driver to pry the vein material out of the crevices.

Leaves can then be painted or left the natural concrete color.
Use these concrete leaves as pond ornaments (as I have done), candy dishes, bird baths, bird feeders, downspout water diverters or even bathroom soap holders (depending on the size of the leaf).





These are not only a blast to make, they also make fabulous gifts! Just ask my Mother who has 12 of them now!
We’ve always been all about decorating the inside of our homes. But what about the outside?
There are many ways to use stencils and your own creative artwork to add your personality to outdoor spaces.
I love decorating with raised plaster stencils. They create a raised design on anything you put them on! Whether you want to add an elegant design to planter boxes,

Or make over an old garden tool shed,

Plaster stencils give you dimensional beauty!

On this shed door, I combined plaster branches from our Raised Plaster Pine Tree Stencil Set with pine cones from the included plaster molds to give it a woodsy look.
Just about any surface can be embellished with your own art or stenciling.
Here, Lynn Low used her own hand painted art to create an interesting mural on her block wall surrounding her pool.

Simple acrylic paint was used to create the tree, vines, bushes and urn full of plants. Where you don’t have artistic skills, that’s where stencils come in!
So before “living outdoors” once again takes place, take a look around your exterior to see what you can make prettier with a bit of art.
Exterior surfaces that can be stenciled:
Deck rails
Concrete walkways and patio floors
Planter boxes
Block walls
Wooden fences
Garden pots
Porch posts and floors