When My Favorite Things recently asked if I’d like to try out some of their craft stencils, I totally jumped at the chance. I haven’t done much stenciling, but as soon as I had a look at their stencil collection, my brain started to buzz with ideas about all of the different projects that I could make with their cool designs.

This week and next, I’ll be sharing a few of my holiday-themed stenciling projects, so be sure to stick around to get some ideas and inspiration for your own holiday paper craft projects!

I used the In the Woods stencil and a few colors of Distress Ink to create the patterned tree background for this modern Christmas card. I wanted the background to be the star, so I kept the sentiment simple and used a piece of lime green glitter cardstock to frame it and to make the “MERRY” stand out more.

I love how the stenciled background turned out, especially in the areas where the ink colors overlap to create new shades of green and teal. I’ll definitely be trying this technique with different colors!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• an A2 card base
• white cardstock
• My Favorite Things In the Woods stencil
• Crushed Olive Distress Ink
• Mowed Lawn Distress Ink
• Peacock Feathers Distress Ink
• sponge daubers
• MERRY print and cut sentiment (download here)
• Silhouette Cameo
• a printer
• glitter cardstock
• a paper cutter or scissors
• low tack tape, like washi tape or painter’s tape
• double-sided-adhesive
• foam adhesive
• Quick Stik (optional)
• Diamond Stickles (optional)

 DIY Stenciled Christmas Card Instructions

Step 1 : Tape your stencil and cardstock to a smooth surface with low tack tape (I used washi tape). If the cardstock is smaller than the stencil – mine wasn’t quite as wide – be sure to tape the cardstock in place separately so it doesn’t move around while you’re stenciling.

Step 2 : Lightly saturate a sponge dauber with your first ink color. If you want the ink coverage to be less intense, dab off some of the ink on a piece of scrap paper or a paper towel. Then, using a swirling motion, rub the inked dauber over the portion of the cardstock where you’d like the color to be. I added more ink in the bottom left corner and kept it lighter as I moved up and to the right so I could blend the first color with the next.

Step 3 : Repeat the previous step with each of the other colors, blending the colors together in the areas where they overlap. Use the inked dauber from your previous color to do any additional blending between the colors.

Step 4 : Cut the stenciled piece of cardstock to 5″ x 3.75″ (if using an A2 card base) and attach to the card base with double-sided adhesive. Cut a piece of glitter cardstock to 3″ x 1.75″ and attach to the center of the card front with double-sided adhesive. Attach the die cut sentiment with foam adhesive, to give the card some dimension. I decided not to use the inner areas of the “R” letters, but if you do, then you’ll want to use a Quick Stik tool or something similar to pick up the small pieces and attach them.

Step 5 (optional) : I thought that the card still needed a little something, so I added a few dots of Diamond Stickles to each side of the word “christmas” for a little extra sparkle.

photos by Kristen Magee