Learning How to Silk Screen

By Sharron Mirsky

Learning how to silk screen has many advantages. As you might know or imagine, it's fun, it's relaxing, it's a great outlet for your creativity, it can be done alone or with friends, can do wonders for your wardrobe and can be the base of a potentially profitable home business. But what you may never have thought of are all the ways you can elevate and accelerate your home decorating by learning this fantastic skill of silk screening.

There are textile goods all over your home that can be accented with printed images and text. In the bedroom and living room, you have pillow cases, blankets, duvet covers, sheets, and curtains to modify. Make them cozy, make them distinctly you. The kitchen and dining room offer up their supply of tea towels, cloth napkins, tablecloths oven mitts and more. Anything made of fabric that can be laid down flat can be printed on. In the bathroom, a great canvas is the shower curtain, especially if it's one made of cloth. And so far, we've only covered functional items that you have anyway. What about surfaces that can de silk screened for purely decorative reasons?

Learning how to silk screen is not just for making t-shirts. Silk screening was the most common way of printing posters for many a decade, and is still used widely today. Silk screened posters have a wonderful look and feel that other more modern methods can't reproduce. Print your own posters on nice paper and frame them up or mount them and hang them on your walls. You can also print on large pieces of fabric to make wall hangings - basically cloth posters. Wood also makes a terrific silk screen surface, and you can make amazing art by printing on boards that you buy or find. You can even print directly onto walls and floors. This is an amazing effect, but I recommend getting some practice under your belt on other objects first to avoid making a huge mess. Essentially you can use it as a muraling tool, but it will look much more controlled and professional than most hand-painted murals, and it will also have a very interesting and uncommon look.

Learning how to silk screen is a fantastic way to express yourself, and have that self-expression present in your home environment. Your creativity will be present all around you, on the walls, and on te things that you use everyday, while preparing meals, relaxing, going to bed. When you invite guests, they will be struck by the warmth and individuality of your house, and might be inspired to take up the art themselves.

Sharron Mirsky is a Canadian with a love for Do-it-yourself projects of all kinds. She has two informative blogs. One highlights different ways you can make your own t-shirts at home or online. The other is a journal on how to silk screen. Find more information at http://makeyourownt-shirts.blogspot.com/ and http://howtosilkscreen.wordpress.com/
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