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The Art of Stencil Painting a Night Sky Mural

(If you would like to skip the little rant, then jump down about halfway on the page)

I was looking around at articles on stencil painting and I just couldn’t help myself from falling asleep. Why must everyone take something that has potential for fun, then kill the excitement with monotone text? Come on… creating an amazing, finished product is supposed to be fun for an individual, or even the whole family. That’s one reason that I decided to start offering a DIY stencil kit. I realized that, sometimes, people just want to be more involved in the creation process. Anyway, I will include a few

excerpts from some of the stuff I read… with a few comments along the way. 🙂

Why stencil?

(From an anonymous blog)

Stenciling is any method of decorating that involves applying color shapes cut out of a sheet of impervious material. It is the art for everyone – a simple method of creating a unique and individuals patterns, whatever your creative ability. In our high-tech age, smooth polished surfaces and bland color, a stenciled pattern can excite the eye and lift the spirits.

(Zzzzzzzzzzz!!! Like I said, stencil painting should be fun to do, with very real bragging rights that go along with it. But after reading just that one paragraph… I was ready to stop offering my Night Sky Murals DIY stencil kits altogether. I just couldn’t be a party to that sort of thing. But, as I delved into more articles… things got even worse.)

(This next snippet I found is from Wikipedia…)

Stencilling produces an image or pattern by applying pigment to a surface over an intermediate object with designed gaps in it which create the pattern or image by only allowing the pigment to reach some parts of the surface.

(I was so tempted to stop there, but it was early in the morning and I still had a little life left in me… so I continued.)

(Wikipedia continued…)

The stencil is both the resulting image or pattern and the intermediate object; the context in which stencil is used makes clear which meaning is intended. In practice, the (object) stencil is usually a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, wood or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material.

(STOP!!! THAT’S IT…. NO MORE!!!!! It may be early, but I don’t want the rest of my day destroyed by having to read things that make my head want to explode. Now, in all fairness… I absolutely realize that my writing makes other people’s heads want to explode. I get that. But, since this is my site… I need to be me. I’ll explain my stencil painting DIY (Do-It-Yourself), but I can’t write it like it’s going into a science publication.)

(OK, now let’s get serious…)

A little about stencils?

A stencil is a piece of mylar plastic, metal, or Kraft paper in our case, with a design or picture cut out of it. When paint is applied to the cut out portions of it, the design is then transferred to your surface. Simple as that. You put this material on a wall, or ceiling, or whatever you are painting, and then paint through the cutout portions. When you then take the stencil away.. Voila! You have become a master painter and needed absolutely zero artistic talent to accomplish your stencil art. How cool is that?

Reasons to use a star stencil from Night Sky Murals

Night Sky Murals DIY stencils make everyone an instant artist – Yep, we have had so many people write and tell us that they have no artistic talent whatsoever and yet they painted an amazing night sky on their ceiling. On the first try!

Anyone can stencil – We’ve had kids as young as 11 years old paint with our stencils, and seasoned citizens 65 years old use them too. And, of course, all ages in between. Everyone with great results. Well, there was that one guy. This guy orders a stencil kit from me (to paint a night sky for his girlfriend), opened the box, looked at the sheets of papers and thought I was selling a scam. He never even tried them. Just sent them back. Too bad… he could have painted a very cool mural of the night sky for his girlfriend.

Stenciling is very inexpensive – Well, compared to having a night sky mural company come in and paint a mural for you, that is. But, compared to other star stencils that you can find on the Internet, ours are more expensive. More expensive, but a much better value for your money.

Stenciling is an inexpensive way to redecorate – Wait! Didn’t I just mention that in the last comment? OK, fine, so more details are needed. Let’s say that you called in a company to come out and paint your night sky mural star ceiling for you. If your room is a 10 x 10 (3.05 x 3.05 sq. meters for some of you), you could expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $1500 for them to paint it. Less, if you’d like something slightly better than sticker stars, but that’s a fairly accurate range. Now, with one of our DIY stencil kits, you could paint multiple rooms for the one-time, very reasonable cost. You might need to get a little more paint when you paint multiple rooms, and Ibuprofen, but that’s it. The savings will just keep adding up. See, it truly is inexpensive!

Update a piece of clothing or furniture – Nope, wrong type of stencils.

Satisfaction – Find your inner artist – How cool to create your own universe.

Bragging Rights – Most definitely. When you show your family and friends what you painted, they will NOT believe you. I’m telling you right now, the murals that you paint with my stencils are going to be so good that people will not believe your painted them yourself. But, when you finally are able to convince them, they will never look at you the same again. You will walk a little taller in their eyes. (Check out THIS story that a customer sent me)

Family Activity – This would make a really fun, family activity. If you enjoy doing things together, then why not create an amazing outdoor environment, that all of you can enjoy, inside of your own home?

Better than most companies – Already covered.

Paint multiple rooms for same price – Covered. If you go crazy and decide to paint every room in your house then you might need to get a little more paint from us, but that isn’t a huge expense.

Add charm or whimsy to your home – I guess you can call it that, if you’d like. I’d prefer to say, “Add a mind-blowing ceiling to any room in your home!” That’s more of what I hear from my customers when I paint a mural for them, and my stencils will help you to do the same kind of mural, too. You have to know that the ceilings are beyond “whimsical” when you hear comments like, “Whoa!!! I’d like to smoke a joint and sit under this ceiling” or, “I wish that I’d have had this ceiling back when I was dropping acid!” So, you see my point? You don’t really get that with “Charm” and “Whimsy” now do you. (Please don’t ask who might have said those things)

Alright, let’s wrap this thing up. There is virtually no limit to the number rooms where my stencils can be used throughout your home. The first room that most people think of is the “Kids” room, but please consider other rooms as well. With my Night Sky Murals, DIY, Stencil Kits you will NOT be painting a cheesy night sky. Period! You will seriously paint a better mural than most companies that paint starscape type ceilings. So, don’t stop with Little Johnny’s room. You will want this in the Master Bedroom, the Home Theater room, the Bathroom, a Relaxation room, Spa room, or any place that can get dark, and where you’d like to relax. If you haven’t looked at any pictures yet, please check out our site for actual pictures from actual customers.

Stencil kit

Dad uses DIY stencil to paint night sky – blows family away.

(Editors note: I realize this is long, but I think that you’ll see it is worth the read)

Jeff,

Your DIY stencil kit is awesome! I just wanted to write a note to tell you how much I appreciate you offering your kit for those of us who aren’t able to have the work professionally done by you. I did extensive research on all the other stencil painting, star kits on the market before I purchased your kit. I’m sure you already know this, but what you offer is

FAR superior to anything else that I found.

Aside from the stencils themselves, you included detailed instructions that teach how to achieve that lifelike 3D look. You also gave great customer service whenever I had any questions along the way. To me, having a great product is extremely important, but equally important is the customer service. It is clear that your goal isn’t only to sell these DIY stencil kits; it’s to have people be successful and have a gorgeous night sky.

The mural I just completed was for my son’s room and he had absolutely no idea of what to expect. In fact none of the family did. I think that in their minds I was just going to paint some “cheesy,” glow in the dark stars. Well, this mural is anything but cheesy, and their reactions were all the proof that I needed.

During the painting process I kept “peeking eyes” away and I made the family wait until the reveal. That night, for the reveal, my son lay down on his bed and waited for me to tell him to open his eyes. The anticipation was almost too much for him to handle after having to wait a few days for me to finish painting. But, wait he did until I finally told him to open his eyes.

These are his exact words… “Dad, this is sooo much better than anything I’d hoped for. I never thought it would look so real. It’s almost like you took the entire ceiling off of my room. It feels just like I’m up north at the Cabin. I love this so much!”

Anybody who has ever had the experience of seeing a gorgeous and clear, starlit, night sky that you only get to see by going far, far away from any city lights, knows what my son meant. That was all that I needed to hear to know that I’d done a good job, and I owe it all to you, Jeff.

Every night since then, the entire family crowds onto my son’s bed and we all just stare up at our Night Sky. The way the stars seem to twinkle simply blows our minds. I swear his night sky ceiling looks so real that my kids are just waiting to see a shooting star. To be honest, I am too.

Looking back now makes me laugh. When I first told my wife that I wanted to use your DIY stencil kit on my son’s ceiling, she questioned whether or not a night sky was appropriate for a 13 year old boy’s room. She thought it might be more appropriate for a 5 or 6 year old. Well, that was before she saw the finished mural. She now says that she would actually be ok with me painting another night sky in every room of the house.

I’ve got to tell you that we are all blown away here. I am by no means an artist, but after using your Night Sky Mural DIY stencil kit, one would sure think I was. Your stencil is so much more than just rolling paint over a stencil, but just about as easy. Thanks a million, Jeff! This kit was worth every penny.

Now on to the next room!!!

D. Johnson

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