Review And Giveaway: The Simple Stencil

I'm one who really likes to personalize where we live. Even if it's just little things, it's better than plain white walls!

Painting isn't always an option, especially if you rent. Plus, I don't know about you, painting is a pain around here - moving furniture, keeping everyone out of the way, making sure the air is circulating.... (I think my blood pressure is rising as I type this! LOL)

But there's a simple, affordable solution to personalize your home, without a lot of trouble! I recently had the chance to review The Simple Stencil, which sells decorative transfers that go easily onto walls and other smooth surfaces.

Oh boy, was I in HEAVEN! I spent hours looking at the designs and picking out what design I wanted to try out. You can easily choose pre-made designs, or you can even change around the type style or color of many other ones! They have everything from monograms, to decorative designs, to wonderful phrases.

One of the great parts about Simple Stencil is that they allow you to pick out a little test phrase so you can try it out before you do the big one on your walls - you can pick ANY word, up to 12 letters long! I think this is a totally wonderful idea, because I don't want to ruin a big phrase just because I wasn't sure of myself using the tool - I'm sure many folks feel the same way.

So I bet you're wondering what I chose, aren't you? ;) Well, since our home is pretty much Halloween 365 days a year, and my kitchen needed help, I decided on the very cool phrase:

Eat, Drink, and be Scary!

Perfect, isn't it? I also picked out several bats to stick around it, and some skull & crossbones to put on my very ugly white cabinets. I was all excited to decorate, DH was going to paint my kitchen grey and red, and we were going to get these phrases up on the wall! Finally, my kitchen was going to have some personality!

Check out the skull & crossbones and the nifty little premium tool you use to rub it onto your walls (or other smooth surfaces like my cabinets):


Aren't they cool?

Then my MIL had to go drop the moving bomb, and I've been in limbo ever since. I didn't want to decorate the kitchen and then have to remove it two weeks later, that was just no fun! :( But finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and I grabbed the skull & crossbones and went to work! It was so easy! You just tape the design to the wall, make sure it's level, then use the nifty little tool to rub it on, and peel! Seriously, in less than 5 minutes, you can redecorate!

Here's a close up of the design on my cabinets:


And here's the finished design:


(Please ignore my beat up cabinets) OK, one looks a little crooked I know, but everything in my house is off anyways, so I'm not worried. ;) Actually, I notice it more in the photo than I do looking at it here in my kitchen. Now I'm giving my DH the ultimatum that I need to know if we are moving by the end of the month, and if not, he's getting to painting, and we're not going anywhere until next year! (Can you tell I've had it with the moving talk?) On the bright side if anyone else runs into the same situation as me: if Simple Stencils are stored properly in a dry, dark area, preferably in the same box they are delivered in, they can still be good for up to 1 year after you order them!

They are also easy to remove if you are decorating seasonally, or just want a change. Simply take a pair of tweezers, or even the premium tool, and pick at the edge of edge letter - you should be able to pull it right off and throw it away.

Win it! The Simple Stencil is letting me give away up to $50 in product to one lucky winner, as well as the same premium tool you see up above so you can be sure you are applying your transfers properly! To enter, please visit the website and come back and mention what you would buy with your gift certificate!

As always, if you're a subscriber or a follower of my blog, you get another entry!

I'll also give you another entry if you blog about this giveaway with a link back, or follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave the link or your username)

Giveaway ends July 18th at 11:59 PM PST. US only, sorry! Good luck, everyone!