Tornadoes and a stenciling project from hell

It's kind of hard to write a post about stenciling the entryway knowing that 22 people died in our state this weekend from the 200+ tornadoes that ripped through the area.  We're incredibly lucky that we didn't have any damage when homes, cars, businesses and lives were destroyed less than 10 miles away.  Despite some heavy winds and small hail, our part of town seemed to have suffered no damage at all--the only reminders of severe weather are shreds of fiberglass insulation all over the place, likely carried from destroyed buildings miles away.

Despite the weather, I tackled stenciling our entryway this weekend.  On Saturday morning I headed out to get some paint and supplies prior to the weather turning.  If you want to try your hand at stenciling, here's what you'll need:

Paint, a stencil, and a sponge brush.  If you're going to make your own stencil, you'll need blank stenciling paper, a template, a Sharpie, a hard surface, and a sharp knife.

I printed off my template and then taped it to the back of the stencil paper so I could trace it on.

Then I slid the acrylic block under the sheet and cut out the pattern with the knife.

Starting in a corner, I taped the stencil to the wall and then it's time to paint away!

Here it is after about 10 minutes.

After about an hour or so (?).  It was surprisingly slow going.

I had to take a break while the power flickered, but here's what it looked like by Saturday late afternoon.

By Sunday afternoon, I had gotten two entire walls done, but my shoulders were aching and I was feeling over it.  More importantly, I was getting sloppy and there are a number of places that I'll have to retouch later.  It's taking much longer than I had anticipated, but all in all I'm THRILLED with how it's looking.  For less than 30 bucks, the entryway got a great little makeover.  It's a subtle difference, but I think it looks interesting.  Oh, and ignore the weird brown spot on the ceiling.  We had a roof leak last year but once I scrape the ceiling in here, that weird brown spot will be history.

So, what do we think?  How was your weekend?