Debbie's Paint Projects > Projects > Painted Faux Swag And Stencil

Tools And Materials Needed

Getting Started

Glaze Recipe: For each of the 3 yellows, mix 2-3 parts glaze with 1 part paint.

  1. Measure and divide the wall evenly into approximately 30" areas. Use a piece of embroidery thread to go from the ceiling to about 18-20 inches down. Tape it so that you can keep your areas evenly spaced.
  2. Roll a layer of glaze mixed with the original base colour (3:1) over the first 30-inch area. This will give a slippery surface to blend the other glazes into.
  3. Using an artist's brush, dip into the darkest yellow. Find the center of the 30-inch division. Draw a naÔve Christmas tree shape down the center. The lines do not need to be symmetrical, but they should join with the lines that are drawn in the areas on either side; they will form the shadows of the folds of the drapery. The last line nearest the bottom should disappear into the corner.
  4. Also with an artist's brush, brush on the glaze with the lightest colour just above the Christmas tree branches made before.
  5. Dip a 1-inch paintbrush into the medium yellow glaze, and blend it through the light and the dark lines to give them a more even tone, as well as above the lines.
  6. Make sure you go ever so slightly under the string of each area, so that the colour will connect between the 2 areas.
  7. Remember, you can always go back and add more shadow if you find there isn't enough definition. Let dry.
  8. Along the bottom of the painted drapery, we added a dentil stencil and then a tassel stencil for extra decorative detail. The dentil was rolled on with a small foam roller. Make certain that you remove the excess paint when you are loading the roller, or you will get paint underneath the stencil bridges, and the picture will smudge.
  9. We outlined the dentils with a blue glaze, then stenciled the tassels using an artist's brush to give it a more freehand look.
  10. Let dry.

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