Freezer Paper Tutorial (Better Late Than Never!)

I finally tried something!





One of the oldest techniques out there--freezer paper stenciling. Can you believe I've never done it?
IT IS SO FUN!! When I was at my sister-in-law's house recently she convinced me that I needed to try it so we waited until the kids were asleep and had a good ol' fashioned craft-in-your-sweats party. (Best night ever.)

I know most of you have tried this already. But if you haven't, YOU MUST! This is me telling you to go to your kitchen, grab your freezer paper and have fun. I was amazed by how professional the results are. Something I never was able to see before by the photos in the tutorials I'd seen.

Do you need some instructions? Here we go!

  • You'll need to print out a design from your computer. I'm obsessed with all things nautical so I chose a simple anchor. My nephew got a cute little sailboat. 


  •  Trace your design onto freezer paper (get it at the grocery store next to the foil and plastic wrap-make sure it's the kind with plastic coating on the back).


  •  Use a craft knife to cut out your design.


  •  The remaining paper will be your stencil. Center and iron on to your shirt.


  •  Use fabric paint to paint a single layer. (Slide a couple of sheets of paper inside your shirt to prevent excess paint seeping through.)


  •  Dry with a blow dryer and pain another layer, repeating until well covered.



  • Peel off the paper and finish by placing a cloth over the (dry) design and ironing again. 
All done!



Aren't those adorable?? (The shirts, too.)





I want to make infinity of these shirts. Can you imagine all the possibilities? What a unique gift you could make! And of course it doesn't just work on shirts, you could use this technique on just about anything! Even use it to design your own fabric. You can laugh at me for taking so long to try it(go ahead, it's ok!), but better late than never, right?

Now go try it yourself. And HAVE FUN!

Love you,
Disney


Comments

  1. Fabulous! I've got to try this sometime! One question though, where do you buy freezer paper?

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  2. You have confirmed for me that I need to do this!

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  3. I haven't done this and now I super want to! It looks fantastic! Great job, Disney!

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  4. I haven't tried it either! I've always been too scared. Your tutorial totally makes me want to try it out!
    Thanks!

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  5. Although I have no idea what freezer paper is, I now know I must hunt some down. These are fantabulous!

    xo,
    Jess

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  6. Freezer paper stenciling is so fun! Great tutorial, although one tip I have learned the hard way, it helps to take an extra piece of freezer paper and iron it to the wrong side of the inside of the shirt, covering the negative? Blank? space which you will be painting on front. That way, if you get a bit too heavy handed (ask me how I know) with the paint it won't seep through to the back of the shirt!

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  7. I just recently tried this too. It was as easy as everyone said! I didn't do the 2 coats though,, and it does look a little funny after I washed it, so will have to give it another go. Good job!
    Nici Z

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  8. Shut the door~! I have NEVER seen this done-which shows you how out of hthe loop I am! I am SOOO going to try this. We are all about nautical here too. Thank you so much! xo Diana

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  9. I LOVE freezer paper stenciling, it's the best isn't it? Super easy, super fast, and SO many possibilities! :) I've even used it to make a 'printed,' fabric when I couldn't find what I wanted/could afford in stores.

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  10. Yes, you do have to put something in between the layers of the shirt. More freezer paper is a good idea, but I usually just use a scrap of cardboard, like a cereal box or something. Your anchor is awesome!

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  11. Oh goodness, you're completely right, I forgot to mention that. We just used a piece of paper, but cardboard would be better. i'll go update the post.

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  12. I havent' tried this either, but your results are really great so I will have to give it a go. Thanks

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  13. I've never tried this. But, after seeing your how-to, I'll have to give it a go.

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  14. Oh wow. These are so cute and they look so easy but oh gosh Disney...Paige is getting so big! In that first picture she looks so mature and beautiful. Congratulations on your lovely girl!

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  15. Better late than never.....haha! I sooo love it too? Glad u joined the club! The freezer paper is also great to use when drafting your patterns. Just trace on to the paper, cut out and then iron onto your fabric. No shifty fabric or pattern weights needed! And u can reuse the pattern pieces each time! Love the stuff!

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  16. Ooh, great suggestion, Leigh Anne! I rarely deal with patterns because they make me crazy, but that is genius.

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  17. I love your posts! Ruffles and Stuff was one of the first blogs I ever followed when I first discovered the world of blogs a few years ago, and all your posts make me so happy:0)

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  18. We can't buy freezer paper in New Zealand! I so want to try this!

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  19. I still need to try this how much is freezer paper usually?

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  20. I've been wanting to try this forever and you make it look so easy! ♥

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  21. I haven't tried this yet and with a new baby on the way this would be fun for me and my nearly four year old to do together!!

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  22. Where did you get that Tulip iron?? So cute! I'd love to have one for my freezer stenciling! I did a quick google search just now and couldn't find where to get it. Any suggestions, Disney?

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  23. I went to Wal-Mart and couldn't find freezer paper... I did find wax paper... is that the same? will it work?
    I am going to test it out this weekend!!
    ❤ Sandra
    Sweet Times in First
    sweettimesinfirst@gmail.com

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  24. WOW that is so cool! I don't think I could make mine look as good as yours. I love all things nautical too!

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  25. Thank you so much! I wanted to do something like this for my child before the summer. I'm ready right now to run to the store for fabric paints:).

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  26. I totally love these projects. I did some about a year ago for mother's day and father's day (for the grandparents) and made a design with their special name on it (like nana or papa with a bird or fishing boat). To help with the stress of stenciling and razoring...I use my silhouette and designed and cut it using the sticky mat. Then ironed it on and painted. I also speeded things up and used a hairdryer. I was too impatient to wait. Turned out great :)

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  27. These are so cute!!! I've been looking for a good anchor. Where did you find it?

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  28. I've never tried freezer-paper stencils either. I'm really impressed with how clean the lines turned out

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  29. so cool.. i've never tried it.. but i am going to soon! summer project for the big kids. i'm predicting we will have a race car and a princess crown (then i will pick the baby's!)
    i came by your post by way of Shelby at "The Bean Sprout Notes"!

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  30. I tried it but how do you do the white paint on darker color? When I painted white, I had to paint it three times before it was white without the background color, then when I washed it few times, it started to crack!

    Help

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  31. that is the best freezer paper tutorial I have found! thank you for that. i have not tried it either, although I do lots of crafts. Im hoping that I can find Freezer paper in the UK, if not then I know you can get anything on ebay:)

    Disney, I love your blog. My mum found it and pointed me to it when she was making clothes for my daughter :) Lots of lovely ideas for those crafting on a budget.
    Cassandra

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  32. I found your blog by googling "freezer paper anchor" because I was hoping for an inexpensive alternative to the $9.99 tiny, Martha Stewart anchor stencil. What a perfect, great sized anchor! Where did you find it please?

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  33. This looks like something I can use for our Disney World shirts.

    Any idea if you can reuse the same piece of freezer paper on multiple shirts? I need to do 42 shirts for my family to have a different shirt for 6 days and don't really want to cut out that many stencils.

    Also, is there some kind of spray to use after it's dry to help prolong the life of the paint?

    Thanks!

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    1. If you're using paint then you shouldn't have too much of a problem reusing the stencil, however after a while you will get curving on some of the edges and small pieces if it gets too wet.

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  34. Cute idea! One question, Do you iron it plastic side down?

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  35. Where did you get such a small iron? Would a big iron work just as well? I see you ironed just the freezer paper (avoiding the negative space of the stencil) would it matter to run the iron over the whole area, before painting of course.

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  36. What is the best paint to use?

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