What a BASH! When 10 of your closest friends ranging from “super craftastic to I’ve-never-made-anything-in-my-life” get together this is what happens…I saw many eager faces ready to learn, I heard some moans and groans, and every now and then I heard a frustrated “I’m confused” but for the most part the girls cut in and made it work! Their project: a freezer paper print for a DIY canvas bag. It was a HUGE success and loads of smiling faces out the door at the end of our 2 hour season.
How can YOU make it yourself? Well, start by getting Freezer paper at the grocery store… yes freezer paper… it’s good for all sorts of arts and crafts. In this case it adheres to the canvas when you use a hot iron and is used as a stencil for your artwork and it easily peels off. You’ll also need fabric paint, cut up sponges, an image you want to use as your design, a a warm iron, and old newspaper or magazine.
Start by picking your design and tracing your image onto the freezer paper, shiny side down. Then cut out the inside of your image so you have a stencil. Be sure to save all the little bits and pieces that make the loops of the letters, nose, eyes and anything else that is “inside” the outline.. you’ll need that for the stencil.
Lay the stencil on your project (shiny side down) and press with a warm iron. After the outline is secure then add in your “extras” the cut-out parts that make the loops, eyes, nose, inner parts of the design. TOP TIP: I iron them one at a time so they don’t accidentally get moved out of place while ironing the rest.
Now it’s time to paint! Put a magazine, paper bag or note book under the material to be painted – this ensures the paint does not bleed thru to the other side of the bag or pillow.
Using a sponge, go for it, and paint the inside of your stencil… get creative, mix colors and have fun! After you get the “look” you want let it dry for at least 30 minutes. You can also speed it up by using a blow dryer. Once it’s dry, peel away the freezer paper to reveal your image!
Let this sit for 24 hours to dry and then, covering it with a drop cloth or pillow case, iron the design over the top of the drop cloth to set the ink.
There you have it…FREEZER PAPER PRINTING…an easy way to create any design you want!!
