Teach Me Tuesday: Pencil Rubbing Design Transfers

If you have a home decor tutorial that you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com!

Back when I showed you how to transfer a pattern on a very large surface, many of you responded that you use a similar technique – pencil rubbing. I love using pencil rubbing for transfers, but if your pattern is to large (like my son’s headboard), it’s not very practical. For those times that it is, sweet Erin at Everbrooke has put together a great tutorial for us.

Erin explains:

Ok… so there is no question that I adore Living With Lindsay’s blog. I have been following her for a few months and I recently took some time to go through her archives. If you like crafts and DIY project like myself, then you will love her blog too. That’s what it’s ALL about. I highly recommend that you check her out.

Anyhow, as I was browsing through her archives I ran across this post . She talks about transferring a design (4ft x 4ft) onto another surface. In her blog she mentions News Print being used as Carbon Paper. For a DIY project of this scale, News Print is a great option. [very creative Lindsay]. However, when I was reading this post, an old trick that I use for smaller projects came to mind. I figured that I would share it with you all in case it’s ever something that you might need to know.


It could come in handy in the following situations:

• You want to use a particular computer font on something that you can not run through the printer. (ie: A blank canvas, plank of wood, or even a piece of furniture)
• You want to transfer a particular shape to another object similar to the ones listed above, etc.
• I think that you get the idea.

I call this method Pencil Carbon (though I am certain that there is a more fancy, professional name out there somewhere).


For this tutorial, I used a few things that I had laying around the house…

• A blank Canvas board (12”x16”)
• A Pencil
• And a Computer Print-out
  

In this tutorial I did not enlarge the print-out to fit the canvas. However… if I were actually going to use this canvas for this project I would have enlarged it to make the font size more proportioned to the canvas.


NOTE: I just used these supplies to show you the steps.

Second, you will turn over your print-out so that you are looking at the back of the paper. You will then rub the pencil over the lettering/design that you printed.

NOTE: If you need to put the paper up to a window to make sure you have covered all of the printed surfaces, this is the time to do that.

Next you will turn your paper over to where the printed side is facing upwards again. Place the paper to the surface you would like to trace it onto.

NOTE: If your item is not laying flat, you will need to use small pieces of tape to hold it into place while you trace.

Next you will begin to trace the object in which you would like to have appear on your project surface… like so:

And last, you will remove your template and you should have a nice traced outline of your template on your project surface. It will look like this:

If the stencil is too light, trace over it again with your pencil to make it darker. That way, when you go to paint it you will have a nice dark line to follow.

As a matter of fact, I plan on using these steps to Monogram my front door. I’ll show you the end result when I get finished.

In the meantime I hope that this will help you in the future, if it’s not something
that you have already used in the past.

Thanks so much, Erin! I love this technique. It’s even easy for children to do, so put on your crafty thinking caps and get to rubbing!

Tagged as: Teach me Tuesday