Simple Hand Stenciled Kitchen Towels

Editor’s Note: I think Megan, from Two Live Colorfully, just figured out this year’s sweetest Mother’s Day project.  With or without kids helping this looks like such a fun project.

As a DIYer, I’ve had my fair share of frustrations with projects not turning out perfectly. Or, heck, not even turning out at all! It took me a while to realize that DIYing takes time and patience and it will almost never look like something produced in a factory. And, you know what? That’s totally okay! There is something to be said for that imperfect result. It means you made something.

That’s the feeling I was inspired by when I created this month’s Graphics in the House project. I wanted a simple, colorful project that looked homemade. With a few dollars and an afternoon, I whipped up these fun, geometric hand stenciled kitchen towels!

Our builder-basic apartment kitchen is pretty plain. While we’re lucky to have relatively nice cabinets and appliances, but there just isn’t a lot of room to personalize. Two years into our time here and I figured it was time to try something! These towels bring a dose of color and cheer to our kitchen.

Here’s what you need:

• Flour sack towels – I ordered these from Amazon
• A simple shape stencil – I used thick cardboard to cut out a triangle, square, and circle.
• Paint – If you’ve got fabric paint on hand, go for it! I’ve just been looking for an excuse to try out mixing craft paint with fabric medium, so that’s what I did here. I’ve got quite a collection of craft paint, but not a lot of fabric paint, and I figured there was no point in doubling my paint supply.
• Paint brushes or foam brushes
• Cardboard to lay underneath your towel

Now are you ready for this super intricate tutorial? Well, be prepared, because I’m going to take you through step by step.

Step one: Place stencil down on towel, paint, repeat!

And that’s it! I didn’t measure and I didn’t worry about the paint bleeding through a little. I was aiming straight for “charmingly imperfect.”

I really do love how they turned out! I gave them at least 24 hours to dry and then sent them through the wash to soften them up. They certainly do jazz up our little kitchen. These would also make a great house warming or hostess gift. I purchased the flour sack towels in a pack of 12, so you could easily stencil them all at the same time and keep the extras on hand for quick gifts.