Poor working men – they have to put on a shirt and tie everyday and don’t have nearly the variety of clothing styles that women do. Maybe that’s why so many guys I know jazz up their office look with fun ties. But if your taste doesn’t run toward cartoon characters and you still want to be whimsical, guys, don’t despair.
I found this 100% silk tie in a sale bin at a local outlet. The lavender color really appealed to me, and I knew it was perfect for stenciling.
When I got home, I pulled out my roll of contact paper. I often prefer contact paper for stencils to freezer paper. It comes in rolls so I am not limited in how large my stencil is going to be. And I don’t have to mess around with ironing it on – contact paper sticks all on its own. The only drawback is that you can only use each stencil once, which is also true of freezer paper.
Once I had settled on a design, I traced two stencils (one for the dot and one for the paper clip) with pencil and cut them out with an X-acto blade. I used Jacquard fabric paints and a foam brush to apply my color. Then I let everything dry.
When the stencils were peeled off, I had a stylish tie just waiting to get wrapped up as a present.
