Raised Plaster Stenciling

Creating easy raised designs with plaster stenciling.

Raised plaster stenciling, (or as it?s also called ?raised embossing? or ?relief stenciling?), on walls and furniture is one of the most creative and easy things you can do to perk up walls and furniture!

It sounds as though it?s a ?new? form of decorating but it?s rather ?re-newed? since plaster stenciling has been around since before the turn of the century. I?ll bet you are not aware that our beloved ?White House? in 1905 was plaster stenciled! I?ve seen photos of it and it was incredible!

Plaster stenciling is simply as the name states:
stenciling with a plaster product instead of paint. That?s all there is to it. I?ve found that the stencil needs to be rather thick and that common craft store stencils do not have the depth required to make a noticeable raised effect on the project intended. After 6 months of testing varying thicknesses of mylar, I did find that the stencils need to be of .14 mil thickness at the very least. Craft store stencils usually run between 4-10 mil.

Here?s how easy it is:
Simply tape the stencil to the wall or other project. Spread a thin layer of common ?joint compound? (found in the paint supply area of your local ?home? or hardware store) with a flat edged palette knife, scrape off the excess, pull the stencil from the item and allow to dry. Let it cure for 24 hours before painting the actual raised design.

Now that you know how simple it is, you will also be delighted to know that it?s not only walls and furniture that you can stencil with plaster, but with the addition of white glue (such as Elmer?s ? ) you can also stencil very slick surfaces such as tile, melamine, high gloss painted objects and other super smooth surfaces!

Other types of mediums can also be used to create raised stenciling. Try pre-mixed wood putty, powdered stucco, powdered plaster and even concrete for outdoor uses on block walls and other concrete surfaces (how about those plain concrete columns?). In two years of testing (thanks to our resident expert Fay Forythe) we?ve found little that we have not, or cannot apply raised plaster stenciling to.

We?re creating beautiful raised designs even on old, tired mirrors, glass and tile by mixing white glue with a plaster patch product called ?Fix-it-all? (again, common in the home or hardware store). We?ve plastered the outside edges of an old, un-framed mirror with a very ornate design and created a very stunning look giving it new life.

Plaster stenciling outdoors? Sure! Using the same formula, we have successfully plastered life-sized trees on houses, beautiful acanthus designs on planters, we?ve even stenciled a cinderblock planter bed with it and after pounding rain and harsh sun and wind, the designs are still there un-scathed by nature?s wrath.

So turn something plain and blah in to something incredibly beautiful with plaster stenciling. It?s easy, it?s very inexpensive and just the comments and fascination from your family and friends will be well worth giving this ?re-newed? craft a try.

Please feel free to email with any specific questions to Victoria Larsen at
victorysprings@yahoo.com
http://www.victorialarsen.com