DIY Halloween signs

I absolutely love Halloween. It’s a big deal in our family. We always have homemade costumes, tons of trick or treaters, friends over to celebrate and of course crafty homemade decorations. This year while I was looking around a craft store, I saw some cute signs with various sayings or words. I decided I could make some just like it. When I start a project from scratch I often make some mistakes and have a few do overs, but this one was a fairly simple task. I think it turned out cute and it is the type of craft that anyone can do.

Materials:

Wood letters
Wood plaques
Thick ribbon
Sponge brush
Paint
Modge Podge
Tacky Glue
Scrapbook paper

Directions:

1. Paint wood plaques and letter. If you are using a light colored paint it might take two colors. Don't forget to paint the sides of your wooden letters. It can be difficult to get into all the small crevices, but it's important to give it a finished look.

2. Cut papers to fit the tops of the wooden plaques. When cutting your paper, consider what letter you will be placing on it and what part of the paper you want showing. In the squares below I decided to use the letter "Y" on the paper that had the potions at the bottom because I knew more of the design would show.

3. Wait until paint is completely dry and then Modge Podge the paper to the wood plaques. First apply a layer of the Modge Podge to the wood. Let it dry slightly then apply a layer onto the back of the paper. Press onto the wood and smooth the paper out. Try to make sure it is completely flat. Let dry.

4. After it's dry, apply a second coat of modge podge. Make sure that all the edges of the paper are sealed. Let it dry completely. You might want to do several coats letting each one dry in between.

5. Glue letters with Tacky glue to the plaques.

6. Flip plaques over so that their back side is facing up. I like to line mine up on the crack in my table so that I know they are in a straight line. Apply glue to the backs and press the ribbon onto the backs of the plaques. Make sure it is straight and spaced evenly, otherwise your decoration will hang funny. Leave an extra 6-8 inches at the top.

7. When the ribbon is close to dry, flip the extra length at the top over and glue it down to make a loop.

8. Glue on a bow and tie on an extra circle of ribbon to make the hanger and you’re done.

The most fun part about it is my boys are learning their letters in school, so they walk past and tell me what the letters are. I love it!