How To Stencil Watercolor Leaves For A Botanical Nursery Accent Wall
Watercolor Nursery Accent Walls Made With Affordable Leaf Stencil!
Flaunt a new floral watercolor stenciled accent wall with Spring right around the corner! Cutting Edge Stencils designed the perfect botanical wall stencil kit so you can stencil a completely original wall mural. This incredible wall stencil kit comes with 25 realistic leaves that can be stenciled individually or combined to create an entirely new unique leaf design! A “growing” trend right now in the home décor industry is watercolor wallpaper. Cutting Edge Stencils will teach you how to steal the look for half the price!
Supplies You’ll Need
- Wisteria 5-Piece Stencil Kit
- 4-Piece Professional Stencil Brush Kit
- Folk Art’s Floating Medium (2 oz. or 8 oz. bottle depending on leaf amount)
- Repositionable Spray Adhesive
- Paper Plates
- Paper Towel
- Blue Painter’s Tape
Paint Colors
- Behr’s Grape Leaves Flat Sheen - Home Depot Sample Size (7 oz.)
- Deco Art’s Raw Umber (2 oz.)
- Deco Art’s Black (2 oz.)
After reading the list of paint you’re probably wondering why we need so little of it. Watercolor is famous for its transparent look. This requires less paint! Mixing the little amount of paint with Floating Medium thins the paint out creating a smooth texture and which is the perfect stenciling recipe for a watercolor stenciled accent wall!
Pour a small amount of Grape Leaves onto a paper plate. In a sperate small cup, combine 2 parts Grape Leaves and 2 parts Black for a darker shade of green. Pour that next to Grape Leaves on the paper plate. The last thing you will add to your paper plate is another small amount of Floating Medium.
Now, dip the tip of your ¾” stencil brush into the darker shade of green and swirl it around on the plate, really working the paint into the bristles. You only want paint on 1/8" of the stencil brush. Remember, you only want a SMALL AMOUNT of paint on the stencil brush at all times.
Next, dip the stencil brush with paint on it into the floating medium. Swirl it around on your plate, creating a transparent green color. Before stenciling, apply repositionable spray adhesive to the back of your botanical wall stencil kit. We HIGHLY recommend it when stenciling a watercolor accent wall because it will prevent stencil seepage under the stencil caused by the new smooth texture of the paint.
Step 1: Our strategy for stencil placement on our accent wall was starting with the large leaf wall stencils first. Place the leaf wall stencil in any direction on the accent wall. Take your ¾” stencil brush and lightly swirl your transparent green color over the entire leaf stencil.
Step 2: Take the ½” stencil brush and dip it into 3 parts dark green and 1 part floating medium. You should see that the consistently is a little thicker. Pounce it over the stem and in random spots on the leaf wall stencil.
Step 3: This last step will complete your watercolor look! Take your 1” stencil brush (with no paint on it) and extra lightly blend the paint that you pounced randomly over the leaves in Step 2 with a swirling motion. The brush should barely be touching the leaf wall stencil while brushing over it.
Let’s get real! And by real, we mean, realistic looking! The owners of Cutting Edge Stencils Janna and Greg want to share their easy secret to making stenciled leaves look realistic. The trick is dry brushing Raw Umber to the tips of the leaves. Add very little paint to your last stencil brush, the ¼” stencil brush, and lightly pounce it over the tips of the leaf wall stencil.
PRO TIP: Do What Inspires You! Literally!
If you see a wallpaper pattern you would like to recreate, use it as a reference for your next DIY stenciled wall project. Most likely Cutting Edge Stencils has the wall stencil design that caught your eye for half the price! We were inspired by a nursery room we saw on Instagram and used it as a reference. Great places to find a reference for your stencil DIY stencil project are Pinterest and Home Décor websites/blogs. You can also find great accent wall inspiration on Cutting Edge Stencils blog too!
How To Combine Leaf Wall Stencils
When working with smaller botanical wall stencil kits, you have the freedom and ability to customize your stenciled accent wall. For example, if you don’t want a repetitive look you can always combine two different sized leaf stencils together.
Step 1: Take the larger leaf and angle it any position you desire. Are you ready for another secret tip about stenciling realistic leaves? An old painter’s trick is to always stencil the closest object darker. Combine Grape Leaves and floating medium and lightly swirl your transparent green color over the entire leaf wall stencil and then follow the previous steps.
Step 2: Once the large leaf wall stencil design is dry, place the smaller leaf wall stencil over the stenciled watercolor leaf. Pro Tip: Tape off desired areas for a clean look. We taped off a few of the new leaf stencil's leaves and stem to make the design look more natural.
Step 3: Stencil the overlapping leaf with the same technique used with the darker shade of green.
WOW, can you believe it? We went from seeing a botanical nursery wall on Instagram to recreating it within a few hours! Wall stencils are easier and a more affordable alternative to wallpaper. Another great thing about wall stencils is that with the right painting technique, you can recreate almost any wallpaper trend! Smart & savvy DIYer's know to buy stencils for their next home improvement project!
Can’t get enough of Cutting Edge Stencils:
- Check out our Facebook Page to see our beautiful customer photos and interact with the people who created them!
- Buy our Tile Stencils or Wall Stencils for your next stencil project, and browse our other wonderful NEW stencil collections!
- Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest and share your designs using #CuttingEdgeStencils. We love seeing your projects!
- Feeling inspired? Check out our other Blog posts for more inspo and stencil designs!
