• Cowboy boots are iconic, so the boot image is a good candidate for use in stencils.well worn cowboy boots 1 image by kds from Fotolia.com
  
  Stencils boast the double benefits of being inexpensive and requiring little or no artistic talent to use. The Western motif lends itself to stencils because many of its icons have very distinct shapes---think horseshoes. These stencil ideas will help you add some cowboy style to walls, furniture, wrapping paper, crafts and terra cotta pots.
  
  

Cowboy Icons

• Hats can be stenciled in profile or head-on.cowboy hat image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
  
  For a classic cowboy look, use one or all of the following icons: horseshoe, star, cowboy hat, saddle, cow, fence, or lasso. If you plan to use more than one, alternate solid shapes (like a cow or a hat) with more "airy" shapes (such as the fencing and the lasso). Consider stenciling a quote from a cowboy song or a line from a cowboy poet like Robert Service along with the shapes.
  
  

Fence and Stars Border

• Thousands of miles of fences quilt the West.The Fence image by bonjo from Fotolia.com
  
  A fence and stars stencil sequence makes an easy, no-fuss border that evokes the cowboy's open range and can be used in a child's bedroom, a themed guest room, or throughout a Western-style home as a visually unifying device. Choose one or two appropriate paint colors, such as mocha brown for the fence sections and sunflower yellow for the stars. Get a star stencil and find or make a fence stencil. The fence stencil should be simple, almost geometric, depicting a section of fencing consisting of two long, parallel horizontal bars crossed in the middle by a short vertical bar. The horizontal bars should extend well out from either side of the vertical bar.
  
  Alternate a star with five or six repetitions of the fence stencil. Overlap the ends of the horizontal bars each time you repeat the fence stencil, thus creating the illusion of a continuous line of fencing.
  
  

Home on the Range Motif

• Depict the horse mid-gallop, when all four legs are off the ground.opaque horse image by Digital Photique from Fotolia.com
  
  Incorporate the stenciled phrase "Home on the range." Surround it with a repeated pattern of a campfire (two crossed logs and flames, separated by a thin space), a lasso and a horse.