Hand made holiday decor can welcome guests with a warm greeting. Cutting your own stencil allows you to quickly make more than one, choose your own font, or look like a pro even though your lettering skills are questionable. Carrie Hawkins of Souvenirs From Wonderland shares her inside secrets here:

Items needed:
- permanent marker with thin tip
- piece of glass, edges taped with duct tape
- stencil blank
- stencil cutter (sometimes called stencil burner, Plaid makes one)
- exacto knife
- tape
- stencil brush
- acrylic paint
- cloth or rag

1. draw or print design (if the letters are too thin, you can draw around them with a marker to plump them up)

2. trace design onto stencil material with marker

3. for letters or designs with a shape within a shape such as letter “A”, make a bridge in one part of the letter, you can fill it in with paint later if you want

4. heat stencil cutter

5. place stencil on glass and use cutter tip to “cut” out your design, the burner tip melts the plastic and you drag the tip as the material melts, pulling toward your body is easier, turn the stencil as you go

6. use the exacto knife to cut away any melted plastic that sticks to the edges of your cuts

7. when stencil is cut, practice on scrap paper first

8. dab the stencil brush into paint and remove some on a cloth or piece of paper to avoid too much paint that will bleed under your stencil, pounce with stencil brush to paint your letters

9. for added depth, apply a second darker color in select spots over the first, then blend with a soft brush

10. remove stencil immediately and wipe away any bleeds

11. fill in gaps from stencil bridges, if desired