BombPop DIY: Gold Peacock Feather Print Napkins

I had fun this weekend working on a few DIY projects for my Friendsgiving tablescape. Two elements that I knew I wanted to incorporate from the inspirations I found last week were gold and prints. I thought a fun way to add both would be to paint a gold print on my napkins.

I picked up some inexpensive white cotton napkins from Target (12 for $10) as well as a peacock feather stencil from a craft store. 

I also bought two kinds of fabric paint, spray and regular. I wasn't sure how the spray paint would turn out, so I got the regular kind as a back-up. I ended up being very glad that I did. Using the spray paint to fill in the stencil was a lot faster than dabbing in the paint myself, but the spray also went on a bit heavy and created pools of paint. If you were working with multiple stencils or only painting one item, the spray might be a good choice, but for this project it was too messy.

As you can see above, I secured my stencil into place using tape. You could also use spray adhesive, but it may make your fabric sticky. It is recommended that you start with prewashed fabric. Using a brush, sponge, or dauber of some kind (I used a paper towel), start at the outside edges of the stencil and paint in a circular, clockwise motion moving towards the center. Then remove the stencil and allow the paint to dry before handling.The paint was still somewhat tacky after a few hours, so I let my napkins dry overnight.

Once they were dry, the napkins smelled faintly of paint. I wasn't sure how the paint would hold up to machine washing and drying, so I hand washed the napkins and let them air dry. It is recommended that you wait 72 hours before washing. Overall, I am pretty happy with the finished product. I'm so excited to see my napkins along with my placesettings and the rest of my table decorations on Friendsgiving!