These wooden DIY Jack’O’Latern signs are the perfect addition to your fall decor!
On Tuesday I shared my Pumpkin Mantel with you all. Your comments were so kind, and I got a lot of questions about the two Pumpkin Signs. I’m so glad you guys love the the Kack’O’Latern signs as much as I do, and I’m happy to say that they were pretty easy to create!
The Jack ‘O’Latern Sign tutorial
I made this recent, and very exciting, discovery at Menards a few months ago. They sell these precut pieces of edge-glued pine for like $15-$20. The size of this slab of wood is perfect for sign-making (1″ x 24″ x 36″), and for these pumpkin signs, we just cut one in half.
I wanted my pumpkin signs to be the perfect shade of grayish/brownish…or, another technical term, “driftwood-y”.
I have stumbled upon the best way to achieve the “driftwood-y” color by combining two stains. First I apply one coat of Minwax’s “Driftwood” stain. When it has completely dried, I apply one coat of Minwax’s “Classic Gray.” This combo works like a charm every time. I love the weathered look of these two stains combined!
Next, I created vinyl stencils of Jack’O’Lantern faces using my Silhouette Cameo.
{If you don’t have a Silhouette Cameo, scroll to the bottom of this post for my suggestions on how you might make a sign like this.}
I placed the vinyl cutouts onto my board, and I painted over them using a dry-brush technique. (Dry-brushing simply means that I barely got the bristles of my paintbrush wet with paint, dabbed off the extra, and “dry-brushed” over the top of my cutouts.) I use this technique because it gives the Jack’O’Latern signs a very weathered appearance without having to sand or make a mess.
Miss L. helped me peel off the stickers, and tada! The faces of the Jack’O’Lanterns appeared!
It’s just that easy!
Now, for my non-Silhouette Cameo friends, if I were you, and I wanted to make a sign like this, I would suggest printing off large Jack’O’Lantern faces, cutting out the eyes, mouth, nose, etc, and tracing them on the wood. Then, I would just paint in the shapes, giving you kind of a reverse of what I did…eh? You also might try combing Etsy for some vinyl Jack’0’Lantern faces.
*Update: In the comment section below, Maria suggests printing out the Jack’O’Lantern face pieces, cutting them out, and tracing them onto painter’s tape…this would be a great way to replicate this project if you do not own a Silhouette Cameo…GEINIUS!!!
🙂
Just for fun, I put together a gallery of my favorite Halloween and fall projects from years past! Check them out!
Beautiful Fall Table
halloween mantel[1]
Ghostly Halloween Tree
Vintage Fall Decor
Pretty Pumpkin Tablescape
Inexpensive Fall Mantel
Coverless Books + Leaves
Halloween Vignette
Tips for Decorating a Small Front Stoop
Boogie Bones Garland
Have a great day!
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I’m linking up at:
These are just soooo cute. I’ll have to try them this weekend. I do have a Silhouette but I moved and haven’t unpacked it yet. What I’m going to do is print out the Jack O’ Lantern faces onto printer paper and cut them out. Then trace the faces on painter’s tape and cut them out. Then they will stick to the wood like vinyl. The painter’s tape can be layered if it is not big enough for the image.
Maria!!! This is genius! If you don’t mind, I’m going to suggest that in my post! Thank you for the great idea! 🙂
Love this project! Thanks for the tips on creating the driftwood grey finish on the wood – I think I’ll be using that one a lot.
These are awesome April! Such a pretty way to add a little Halloween feel!
Love these! SO cool!
I am super in love with your entire mantle, and the added distressed pumpkin signs were the perfect touch. And how easy? Thanks for sharing!
You can also buy self adhesive sheets of vinyl (the same ones you use in your cutting machine!) and cut the faces out by hand…
That’s true! There are so many ways to achieve a similar look…this is just the way I thought would work best for me! 😉
What did you use to dry brush with? Just some white paint. Sorry if I am being dense here!!
I used chalk paint! You aren’t being dense! I’ve dry-brushed with latex paint, and that works well too. 😉
Such a cute idea for Halloween! I love this idea so much that I may use this idea for signs for every holiday. Thanks for sharing!
I tried the stains and no luck. Just makes the wood more yellow. I used pine wood though so I don’t know if that’s why. I have the worst luck getting that grey look. Any suggestions?
I’m sorry to hear that, Sarah. I’ve never had that problem, even though I have used this combo on pine. Maybe just use the gray alone?
Love these signs! Thank you so much for posting. Where did you get those slim black candle holders?
Thank you, Kristen! They are from Crate & Barrel many years ago. 🙂