How To Paint Multicolored Plaid

How to paint multicolored plaid or buffalo check plaid using painters tape and paint. DIY plaid Easter egg door hanging.

For Easter I wanted to create a colorful door hanging. I love painting buffalo check plaid and for a while I wanted to figure out how to paint multicolored plaid similar to a madras color and pattern. 

Plaid is my favorite pattern specifically buffalo check or gingham. Which made me wonder could I paint this with 4-5 different colors? If so the options and color combinations would be endless!

HOW TO PAINT a multicolored PLAID

I have painted buffalo check plenty of times before. So I grabbed my Frog tape and paint and started crafting. 

Check out this DIY buffalo check sign, pumpkin buffalo check door hanging and this heart shaped pink buffalo check door hanging.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE A DIY mulitcolored PLAID Easter Egg

• Wooden Egg (I got mine at Michaels)
• Frog Tape
• White Chalk Paint
• Acrylic paint mixed to light, medium and dark for each color. I used 4 colors yellow, green, blue and purple)
• Paint Brushes

Let’s paint some multicolored buffalo check plaid. All you really need is some painters tape, paint brushes and paint. Now I will tell you the best tape to use is Frog tape. The paint blocking technology is just superior for crisp lines. 

 

MIX PAINT COLORS

Now you are going to need 4 main colors to make this multicolored plaid. I used yellow, green, blue and purple. Pink would also be a great addition. You will need 3 shades of each color light, medium and dark.  Now you can do this by purchasing all the colors but I like to mix my your own. I’ll buy the darker shade and add white until I get the desired color. 

BASE COLOR

We are going to start by painting the base of your sign white. When painting buffalo check I always use a chalk paint for the base of the sign. This helps with the paint not peeling up with the painters tape. 

TAPE OFF HORIZONTAL STRIPES

Starting at the top of your sign tape horizontal stripes. Pressing them down smoothly on the wood to create a seal. Use a piece of tape as a spacer in between stripes. This is more efficient than measuring and marking spaces with a pencil. 

I decided to tape diagonally for more visual interest. 

PAINT HORIZONTAL STRIPES

Using your lightest colors paint the horizontal stripes. I decided on a color pattern that was closest to the order of a rainbow. Starting with yellow, green, blue then purple. Make sure to keep this order throughout your project. 

Be sure not to over saturate your paint brush. A few light coats can help with bleeding. Check out this technique for painting crisp lines. 

REMOVE TAPE

Remove painters tape while it’s still a bit wet. Then let the sign dry completely before the next step.

TAPE OFF VERTICAL STRIPES

Starting at the far right side use your space tape flush against the side. Then start to tape the vertical stripes. You will want to match the same angle. Make sure that where the tape intersects with the painted lines it looks like a complete square and not a diamond. 

PAINT VERTICAL STRIPES

Using the medium colors start to paint your vertical stripes. Start with the yellow on the right and continue the color pattern. Remember yellow, green, blue and purple.

DO NOT remove the painters tape. Let paint dry completely. 

TAPE HORIZONTAL STRIPES.

Starting at the top of the sign start to tape your horizontal stripes matching the original diagonal angle.

PAINT THE CHECK

With a thin amount of your darkest color paint on your brush start painting the open squares on your sign. Apply two thin coats of the paint. Again these colors will go right to left; yellow, green, blue and purple.

Remove the tape

Now here is to see if we did it correctly. Peel back all of your painters tape. And just like that you have created your own buffalo check sign. Did any paint bleed through? Don’t worry once it’s fully dry just use some extra paint to touch it up with a small detail brush. 

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