I had the idea to make a stencil to trace for my daughters room.  It was a pretty clear-cut idea. I just needed to copy the pattern I wanted onto cardboard, cut it out, and trace it with a paint brush (though I think a paint marker would've been better).  

 

I had bought a Cynthia Rowley quilt for my daughter's bed (at TJ. Maxx) and planned on using a shape from it (it's in the pic below). I knew it would look great as a repeating pattern or tessellation.  I was going for something different on each wall and this would look good on the blue wall.  It would be 12" in size (width and height).

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I made the stencil by tracing it onto tracing paper and then transfered the pattern onto thin, dense cardboard.  I then taped a small level onto it.  I used a 1/4 inch brush and slightly watered down white paint to help my brush glide.  It's usually best to begin with plumb or level line down the middle of your wall but I began on one corner and worked my way to the other side (because I had planned how it would fit the wall).  I traced it with a paintbrush not a pencil first.  (I would listen to a movie, on an ipad, while I was working in the evenings, after the kids were in bed...that sort of makes monotonous work less daunting).  

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I thought this was a new idea so I googled it and found a blogger had already shared it before....So much for originality.  The funny thing is hers was done about exactly the same time I was doing this wall for my daughters room.  Except, I skipped the step of tracing the pattern in pencil.  ...The top pic is of the wall almost done.  

 

I wish I took more pics, I never thought I'd share my projects, but seeing how people react to my work has made me realize that not showing it is like hoarding talent and that I really do have something to add to the BIG mix of DIY sites

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Anyways, you can copy a pattern from anything really and you can find one to go with any style.  If you do a project like this, just be patient with your progress.  It will take some time to complete.  I would like to try this with a paint marker.  Have you ever used paint marker on a wall?  I'm curious to know how well it would work.  My lines aren't perfect by far but I decided that's ok since this was just a kids room.  

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Oh, the middle pic, of the butterfly mural, is on the opposite wall of the blue wall I stenciled.  I'll share a bit about that here.