How to Stencil a Floral Hen Porch Leaner: "Find Me Amongst the Hens and Wildflowers"

If there's one thing we never get tired of seeing, it's the gorgeous projects our crafters dream up using a single stencil. This one stopped us in our tracks. Artist Bela Mattes took our Find Me Amongst the Hens / Reusable Stencil and turned it into a showstopping 4-foot porch leaner — a trio of black hens with bodies bursting in bright wildflower color, marching right up a honey-stained plank. It's the kind of piece that makes people stop on your front steps and ask where you got it.

The best part? You can make it too, with just one stencil. In this guide, we'll walk you through exactly how Bela built her floral hen leaner from a plain board to a finished porch piece — including the one technique that makes or breaks a detailed stencil like this: keeping your edges crisp and bleed-free.

About the Stencil

The Find Me Amongst the Hens / Reusable Stencil features the saying "you will find me amongst the hens and wildflowers" wrapped around a charming vintage-style hen and a wildflower border. Like a lot of our most detailed designs, it comes as a two-piece, two-layer stencil:

• The base layer is the big sheet — it gives you the lettering, the solid hen silhouette, and the surrounding wildflowers.
• The detail layer is the smaller sheet — a hen filled with feather and flower cutouts that you line up on top of your painted silhouette to add all that color and dimension.

Paint it up in one color for a clean farmhouse look, or go bold with a whole rainbow of blooms like Bela did. It's made from reusable 10mil mylar, so you can wash it and use it again and again — which is exactly what makes a multi-hen layout like this one possible. The stencil comes in four sizes, from a 12" x 10" design up to 21" x 16", so you can match it to your board.

What You'll Need

The stencil gives you the design. Gather the rest of these supplies to bring it to life:

• The Find Me Amongst the Hens stencil
• A porch leaner board — Bela used a 4 ft x 12 in plank (grab one from Home Depot, Lowe's, or your local lumber store)
• Wood stain  - Bela used a warm honey or golden tone
• Acrylic paints — Bela reached for DecoArt and Waverly acrylics, both crafter favorites
• Black paint for the lettering, silhouettes, and wildflower sprigs
• A bright palette for the florals: corals, pinks, teals, blues, yellows, and greens
• A little white for highlights
• Stencil brushes, foam pouncers, or a dense foam roller
• Blue painter's tape and/or repositionable spray adhesive
• Paper towels or a rag (you'll need these — more on that below)
• A paint tray or paper plate
• A fine detail brush or paint pen (optional, for touch-ups)
• A clear spray sealer, such as Rustoleum, if your sign will live outdoors

Step 1: Sand and Stain Your Board

Start by sanding your porch board smooth so the stain goes on evenly. Then apply your stain and let it dry completely. A warm wood tone is the secret weapon here — it lets the black hens read as bold silhouettes while making every bright flower pop against the natural grain. Don't rush this part; a fully dry, smooth surface is your foundation for clean stenciling.

Step 2: Plan Your Layout

Because this is a reusable mylar stencil, you aren't locked into using it just once. On a tall 4-foot leaner, you have room to play. Bela placed the lettering at the top, then repositioned the hen down the board to create a cascade of three hens, tucking little wildflower sprigs in the gaps between them.

Before any paint touches the wood, lay the board flat and dry-position your stencil pieces where you want them. Decide where your lettering sits, where each hen lands, and where you'll fill in wildflowers. A little planning now saves you from a crowded or lopsided layout later.

Step 3: Secure the Base Layer

Line up the base sheet (the lettering and hen silhouette) and secure it firmly with blue painter's tape, repositionable spray adhesive, or both. The flatter and tighter your stencil sits against the board, the cleaner your lines will be. Press the edges down well, especially around the fine lettering and the delicate wildflower cutouts.

Step 4: Paint the Lettering and Silhouettes — Offload, Offload, Offload!

Here's the most important technique in the whole project, and it's the one Allie Kailey breaks down in the WallCutz video "STOP THE BLEEDING! Hot Air Balloon Stencil Tutorial" over on our YouTube channel. The project in her video is different, but the technique is exactly what you need here — it's the difference between crisp, professional-looking edges and a fuzzy, bled-out mess.

The golden rule: offload, offload, offload. Dip just the tip of your brush into your black paint, then dab and swirl it on a paper towel until there's almost no paint left on the bristles. A dry brush can't bleed under the stencil. Then pounce or swirl that nearly-dry brush over the cutouts in light layers, building up the color gradually rather than flooding it on all at once.

Paint your lettering, your hen silhouette, and the wildflower border this way. It feels like you're using "too little" paint — that's exactly right. Let it build.

Step 5: Reposition and Repeat Your Hens

Once your first hen and lettering are dry to the touch, gently lift the stencil. This is where reusable mylar earns its keep. Move the stencil down the board, mask off the lettering area with tape or scrap paper, and paint a second solid black hen. Repeat once more for your third. Use the wildflower elements from the stencil's border to add little black sprigs between the hens, connecting the whole design down the leaner.

Keep offloading your brush each time, and let each hen dry before you move on so you don't smudge your work.

Step 6: Layer On the Color with the Detail Stencil

Now for the magic. Take the second piece — the hen detail layer — and line it up over one of your dry black silhouettes. This overlay is what fills each hen with feathers and flowers.

Using the same nearly-dry brush technique, pounce in your bright colors: corals and pinks for the blooms, teals and blues for cool contrast, yellows and greens scattered throughout. There are no rules here — mix your DecoArt and Waverly colors and let each hen have its own personality. Work one hen at a time, repositioning the detail layer for each, and keep offloading so those tiny flower shapes stay crisp.

Step 7: Add Highlights and Final Details

Once the color layers are dry, bring the hens to life with a few dots of white as highlights on the flowers and feathers. If any edges need cleaning up, a fine detail brush or a paint pen is perfect for sharpening lines and fixing the occasional bleed. Step back and add color wherever your eye wants a little more.

Step 8: Seal and Display

If your leaner is headed outdoors, protect all that work with a clear spray sealer such as Rustoleum to shield the paint from sun and weather. Then lean it against your porch wall, prop it by the front door, or set it among your flower pots — and enjoy the compliments.

Tips for the Best Results

• Offload, offload, offload. A nearly-dry brush is the single best defense against bleeding. When in doubt, take more paint off your brush.
• Let layers dry. Dry your silhouette before adding the detail layer, and dry each hen before repositioning, to keep edges sharp and smudge-free.
• Reposition with confidence. Your stencil is reusable — use that to fill a tall board, repeat a motif, or create a custom layout all your own.
• Mix your palette. Bella's DecoArt and Waverly brights give each hen its own look. Don't aim for matchy-matchy; a little variety reads as charming and handmade.
• Embrace imperfection. Slight differences between your hens make the finished piece feel one-of-a-kind, not less polished.

Ready to Make Your Own?

A huge thank you to Bela Mattes for the inspiration behind this one. Whether you keep your hens neutral and farmhouse-simple or load them up with wildflower color, this project is a perfect weekend craft, a fun paint-night idea, or a heartfelt handmade gift for the chicken lover in your life.

Grab the Find Me Amongst the Hens / Reusable Stencil, and don't forget to share a photo of your finished leaner with us — we love seeing what you create! Head over to our Facebook Community Group to connect with thousands of crafters, watch live how-to's, and get answers to any stenciling question you might have.