STENCILED AIR FRESHENERS

A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Always cover your workspace to prevent staining and to simplify cleanup. Here, we have covered it with a sheet of parchment paper.

Gather your materials – Air Freshener Blanks, stencils, coloring materials (markers were used here, but colored pencils also work well), brush and fragrance oil (not shown).



Start by selecting a blank. Here, we’ve used a rectangle, because it’s the right size for the stencils we wanted to use, and punched the hang hole with a metal hole punch prior to decorating.



Choose your stencil and place it into the desired position on the air freshener blank. These plastic stencils were purchased as a set of four strips, all with a summer beach theme, for about $3 at a local arts and crafts store. Stencils are also readily available online, or you can cut your own from sheets of stencil plastic or chipboard using a craft knife or a cutting system at your local scrapbooking store. Press the stencil firmly against the blank, making sure that it does not slip and that all portions of the stencil are making contact with the surface of the blank.



Trace the outline of the stencil shape with your marker or colored pencil. Don’t worry about being perfect, because this will be covered/blended in when you fill in the outline later.



Your first outline will end up looking something like this.



Add additional outlines, if desired.



Now use that same colored pencil or marker to color in the outline(s) you’ve just traced. When you do so, blend the outline into the color by going over it again as you color. Try to make the color somewhat uniform, with no dark blobs where strokes have overlapped repeatedly, but the ink will absorb fairly uniformly as it dries, so it’s not necessary to be perfect.




Here, all three seashells have been colored in and the decorating is complete. (If you choose to add more embellishments, like lettering, rubber stamps, etc., you should do so at this point.) Select your fragrance oil, keeping in mind that the blank will pick up the color of the fragrance slightly. Apply fragrance with an inexpensive brush or disposable pipette (not shown).



Here are four air fresheners, decorated and ready for fragrance, hanger cord, and packaging! All four were made from the same package of four stencil strips. Your creativity is limited only by the selection of stencils available, or your ideas to make your own stencils.




Clockwise from top: Seashells, Anchor and Starfish, Fish, and Sailboat (sun rays added by hand after stenciling)

Great kids project for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.