Crafty Christmas Table Runner

I love it when a project turns out how you envisioned it. I have admired the burlap table runners with stenciled words, for a while now. So, I decided to roll up my sleeves and give it a try. I absolutely love how it turned out! 

I stenciled the words "Peace On Earth" on both ends.

You could use: Joy To The World, Jesus Is Born, etc. 

Here are the supplies that you will need: 

words printed in largest font

spray adhesive, I used non-permanent quilt basting spray-it's what I had on hand

gesso or white craft paint-I used craft paint

old brush

xacto knife

very sharp scissors-for cutting the stencil, the smaller the better, the scissors in the above picture are really too big

ruler

clear packing tape

burlap, measure how long you will need it to be by measuring your table, do this for the width also, my width was 14"

rotary cutter or fabric scissors to cut the burlap

To prepare your burlap:

Cut burlap to the size you like, using your rotary cutter or scissors. Stitch all the way around the burlap about 1/2" from the edge. To fray, just simply pull the burlap strings off until you reach the sewn edge. Tip: I like to stop one row before reaching the sewn edge.

For the stencil:

Trim around the words leaving about 1" border all the way around. Put two layers of packing tape on top of the words. Making sure to cover the whole piece of paper in tape. Using the xacto knife, make a starting cut on the letter "P" about 1/2" long. Now using the scissors, carefully cut out the letters. I like to just outside of the letter. The black area is what you want to remove. Make sure to save the inside area of the "e"s and "a"s. To make things easier, label these little "dots" on the back, so you won't forget which one is for the e and which one is for the a.

This is the method that I used to stabilize the stencil, but you could use contact paper, or lament the words and then cut them out. ***Don't forget the negative space is what you will use as your stencil. 

Back of the stencil. I didn't have a spray booth, so I improvised. I placed a long Hobby Lobby bag inside my craftroom trashcan and used it as a spray booth.

Spray your stencils, one at a time. Paint one word then move onto the next word. Don't spray them until you need them. 

Place the stencil on the burlap. Make sure it is in the middle, even from all three sides. Pat down. Notice in the picture above, I forgot the "dot" for the a and the E. I did add them later. **Don't forget to put something down to protect your table.** After loading my brush with paint, I used a tap, tap motion to apply the paint. Don't scrub back and forth, this motion will lift the stencil up and get paint in under the stencil. Very messy-you won't have very clean or crisp lines.

I love burlap, you can dress it up or dress it down. This method would also be cute for a mantle scarf. Just make it long enough to hang off the front edge of the mantle about 6-10". Stencil this area. A cute saying for the mantle "Stockings Were Hung". The method that I used in making my stencils is a little time consuming, but so worth it. I tried the xacto knife at first and it was very slow. The sharp small scissors did make things go much quicker. 

One tip that I learned: even if you don't cut everything perfect, it still looks wonderful in the end. Some of the painted lines were very faint and I took a brush with a tiny tip and touched up those areas, especially around the thin, scrolly lines.

  Don't forget to look back at my last year's Christmas crafts.

Have a wonderful night and a very Merry Christmas,

Holly