28 May 2011
DIY Project: Pizza-Box Stencil Wall

Have you ever finished off a pizza, stared at the empty box, and thought, "This would be a great material for a wall stencil"? A pizza box is made of strong cardboard, so it will hold up well as a template. If you want to cause a big statement inexpensively with paint and have a fun story to tell friends, this could be the perfect weekend project.

Look at what you can create using just paint. This wall of patterned circles took me two days to create. Prep your wall with your background color.

 

For this project you will need: 
 
• One pizza box (the one you see is the large rectangular one
• A quart of your favorite paint 
• Measuring tape 
• Level 
• Pencil 
• Scissor 
• Graph Paper 
• Painters tape 
• 2 paint brushes: one fine-tip and one medium-tip 
• 1 plastic push pin 
• Sewing thread (any color) 

Step 1. Eat a big pizza. Then empty out the box so it is as clean as possible.

Step 2. Choose your circle size. Using your measuring tape, figure out the largest circle you can create with this piece of cardboard. (See step 5 for more on choosing your circle size.) Sample used was 29".

 

Step 3. Draw your circle. Cut a piece of sewing thread six inches longer than the diameter of your circle. Tie one end of the thread to a plastic push pin, leaving enough thread equal to half the diameter of your circle. Tie the other end to a pencil. Push the pin in to the center of the box and, pulling lightly on the thread, drag the pencil around the box, drawing a circle. You just created the outside of your pattern. 
 
Keep the push pin and thread in place. Decide how thick your circle will be (picture shown was 3 inches), then shorten your thread by that amount by wrapping it around the pencil some more. As you did to create the outside of the circle, drag the pencil around the box to draw the inside edge of your circle.

Step 4. Cut out the circle. It should look like this.

 

Step 5. Create your pattern. Time to calculate where to place your circles on the wall. Using your measuring tape, find the length of your wall. Now measure the height of your wall. Take out graph paper and draw a box the length and height of your wall (I used 2 squares to represent one foot). Mark an X in the center. That is where the center of your first circle will go. Draw the size of your circle around the X, then keep adding more circles until your wall is full. 
 
Use this as a guide when you take the next step. 
 
Note: You can also use a grid like this to design your pattern. Just divide the width of your space by the number of circles you want. And odd number will look best.

Step 6. Find the center of the wall. Using measurements on your paper grid as a guide, find the center of the wall. Place a piece of painters tape there, put your circle around it and trace it with your pencil. I used painters tape to hold my stencil on the wall as I traced it. At the top and bottom of the circle, place painters tape on all four sides. 

 

By starting with one circle in the center of your wall, your stencil will look great even if you end up with partial circles at the edges of your design.

 

Step 7. Transfer your guide to the wall. Keep adding a piece of painters tape every circle width apart from the last piece of tape. Do this across the wall, and up and down, as shown. Use a level alongside your measuring tape to keep the painters tape lined up straight. You will end up with a grid made up of pieces of tape. 
 
Now grab your stencil and, starting from the center again, between each row of painters tape, trace your circle with a pencil. Make sure the widest part of each circle just touches the outer edge of its neighbors to the side, top and bottom. 

When you get to the edges of your wall, you may not have room for full circles, and that's fine. Any partial circles still should mirror each other in size.

Step 8. Time to paint the circles!

Step 9. Outline your circles using a fine-tip paint brush.

Step 10. Fill in your circles with your larger brush. I added two coats of paint to each circle.

Courtesy Sharing by Houzz

 

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