| Supply List: | | | | prevent the moisture in the joint compound from |
| 1. Raised Plaster Stone stencil: Raised Plaster Stencils | | | | penetrating it before you have completed your wall |
| are now readily available on the internet (simply do a | | | | project. A craft knife is all you need to cut the |
| search for "Raised Plaster Stencil" to find all of the | | | | openings out of poster board. |
| available sources). If you can't find just the right | | | | Transfer the design on to the stencil material and cut |
| stone stencil design, you can make your own. | | | | the openings out. |
| 2. A bucket of joint compound (or more, depending | | | | Apply wide masking tape to adjoining walls, the ceiling |
| on how large the intended wall is). | | | | and baseboards to protect them from unwanted |
| 3. A small mixing bucket | | | | joint compound. Be sure to protect the floor with a |
| 4. Wide masking tape | | | | drop cloth or plastic sheet, then apply your stencil to |
| 5. A 3" wide plastic scraper | | | | one upper corner of the wall and tape in to place. |
| 6. Darkly colored craft or wall paint in natural colors | | | | Transfer 1/2 of the bucket of joint compound in to a |
| such as brown, rust and beige to pre-color the joint | | | | clean mixing bucket. Squeeze about 1/4 cup of each |
| compound. The colors you choose will become the | | | | of the three paint colors you chose in to the bucket. |
| "base" color of your stones, with beautiful variations | | | | Stir the joint compound only enough to "swirl" the |
| through out each stone. | | | | colors in to the compound. Do not over mix. You |
| 7. Clear, Polyurethane sealer. | | | | want to see the literal variations in color. |
| To create your own stencil, first decide on your | | | | With your scraper, apply a thin coat over all of the |
| stone pattern. Practice with pencil and paper until you | | | | stencil openings. The action of smoothing the |
| have just the right design by creating various size | | | | compound over the stencil automatically blends the |
| stones in different patterns or simply copy a pattern | | | | paint colors in with the joint compound which colors |
| from a garden book or magazine. Create a square or | | | | each stone through out. |
| rectangle design since it will be the easiest to repeat | | | | As you smooth on the compound, allow it to be |
| over the wall. | | | | bumpy, with dips and crevices, swirls and ridges. This |
| Your stencil can be made out of just about anything | | | | will help to create very natural looking stone. Remove |
| that is large, flat and reasonably thick. Durable plastic | | | | the stencil and allow the compound to dry before |
| sheets work the best since they will hold up to | | | | repeating your stone pattern. Turning the stencil in a |
| repeated use and can later be used with concrete | | | | different direction or flipping it over helps to vary the |
| over your existing patio to create a new stone | | | | stones and prevent the "repeated" look. |
| surface..14 mil or thicker plastic does the trick and will | | | | To speed things along, we do the first repeat, skip |
| basically last through any abuse. | | | | the second, apply the third repeat and so on. To |
| Though the openings for your stones can be cut out | | | | accomplish this, simply measure over the width of |
| with a sharp craft knife, a stencil burner (available at | | | | your stencil openings and apply the stencil at that |
| your local craft store) glides through the plastic with | | | | point. |
| ease, making the cutting chore a breeze. | | | | Once all of the stones have been completed and are |
| You can create a more temporary version of your | | | | dry, apply a coat of clear polyurethane to seal and |
| stencil by using heavy duty poster board from your | | | | protect. Enjoy the look of a stone wall you created |
| local craft or art supply store. Tip: Spray the poster | | | | yourself and hear the comments from friends and |
| board lightly with aerosol hairspray or matt spray | | | | family who won't believe it! |
| varnish to seal the paper surface which will help | | | | |