Are you new to working with paper stencils? You should know that you can prepare your paper stencils so that they can be used again and again. Yeah! That’s right. The one you just printed can become a long term free stencil. It’s easy. Do you have some of that clear, wide packing tape? Just use it to run even strips covering all of the paper surfaces before you cut out the stencil. Burnish or rub the tape down to get the air pockets out. That’s it.
Or better yet, get a roll of clear shelf liner. That covers your stencil in one swoop.
For more on working with paper stencils see our article on Stencil Downloads.
By the way, I like to cover just the top side of the paper. If the bottom is slick it can encourage paint to bleed under the stencil and smudge your surface. The underside may get wet when you wash it but just let it dry and you can flatten it back out by storing it in a book.
Working with paper stencils has a few more advantages. You can adjust the size of your paper stencil to fit the size of your project. Just take the page to a copier and reduce or enlarge. Then cut out the stencil openings. It’s that easy and you can’t do that with a plastic stencil.