Easy DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Tutorial

July 23, 2012

Easy DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Tutorial

by Natalie

There are freezer paper stencil tutorials all over the internet, but here's just one more for your viewing pleasure. I love to give a handmade gift, but after my homemade baby quilt kick a couple of years ago (which, while fun, was incredibly time consuming) I hadn't really found a replacement "personal" gift that I could whip out quickly and efficiently. Enter: the freezer paper stencil dress!

I have all of the necessary items on hand: freezer paper, fabric paint, an iron, scissors, and a paintbrush (I use a sponge brush, but you can use a regular paint brush or anything similar.) For the stencil, I chose a Martha Stewart bird punch, because it's easy and because I'm not great with an exacto knife. You can use an exacto to cut out any shape, letter, number, design, etc. that you would like... I took the easy path for this one and used the punch.

I chose this dress in both gray and green (about $20) from American Apparel; I buy these every summer for my daughters, and they hold up incredibly well. I love how simple they are, and they're so easy to dress up.

I cut my freezer paper into small squares and then punched the bird shape into each square. I then arranged them on the dress in a pattern, waxy side down (this is why it's important to buy FREEZER paper, not wax paper, as freezer paper is only waxy on one side.)

Then I ironed each square to the fabric, making sure to get all of the small edges of the cutout shape pressed flat to the fabric. Once the paper is secured, just paint inside your cutout area. I chose gold and silver for my colors and just did a little assortment on each dress.

Once you have your paint covering the cutout area, just let it dry overnight. You can also dry it with a hair dryer, as the heat will help set the paint. Then just peel off your paper and voila! Cute additions to a simple dress.