How to make a Happy Halloween Yard Sign

Decorating your yard with Halloween Holiday signs can be fun and interesting. Although there are a lot of commercial signs out there, I find making my own spooky decorations much more fun and unique decorations. Here is a sign that I made that we put out each year to welcome the little ghosts and Goblins

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Piece of plywood scrap roughly 12" by 36".
• 1/2" by 2" board about 48" tall.
• wood screws
• drill and bit
• sand paper
• clean rag
• acrylic paints
• hammer

1. 
   The finished sign

   Painting and aging.
   
   Find the center of your sign board where you will attach it to the stake for placing in your yard. Drill two holes for wood screws in the wood and remove any wood burrs.
   
   Now paint your sign with white acrylic paint. Leave some of the edge of the wood bare of paint. Let dry thoroughly. Once dry sand with some heavy sand paper to let some of the edges of the wood show through the paint. This will make your sign look old and worn. Then wipe with a clean rag.
   
   Now paint the center of your sign black. Let totally dry and once again sand with course sand paper to let some of the white underneath show through.

2. 
   The Lettering

   Painting your Lettering:
   
   I hand lettered my sign. "Happy Halloween" is just one example of what you can use. If you have a problem hand lettering, you can type out "Happy Halloween" on your computer, print the words to scale and make a template to trace for your sign. Just glue your printout to cardboard and cut it out with a razor knife. Trace it and paint it.
   
   I used traditional Halloween orange letters on a black background. But you could use bloody red or gruesome green.

3. 
   Flying Witch

   The Witch: Once again I did this freehand, but you can make a template and trace out your witch before painting. I got my idea from an old "Trick or Treat" bag logo. There are lots of ideas under "Halloween Images" on the net.

4. 
   Pumpkins

   Pumpkins and Ghost Images: Do these freehand. The pumpkins are just off shape round orange balls with eyes, a nose and a mouth, little green stem and a lid line. Your artwork does not have to be exact. In fact you kids would be great helping you with this project!

5. 
   Finished Sign

   Finishing up:
   
   Let all the paint dry overnight. If it looks too new sand it a little to age it. If you desire spray the whole sign front and back with clear acrylic to help preserve it from the elements.
   
   Attach the sign to your support stake with two wood screws. Place it in your garden, along a walk or in your yard for a spooky welcome.

6. 
   Evil Pumpkins

   Bonus: The two evil pumpkins on the sticks behind the sign are easy to make. Buy two foam pumpkins. Using your acrylic paints add a bit more detail and color. Impale them onto dowel rods and stick them in your garden for a bit of Halloween color! Easy and cool!

Tips & Warnings

• Feel free to use my images as a template.
• Be imaginative and consider other designs with cob webs, skeletons, skulls, were wolf, mummy, spiders, etc...
• Use non-toxic acrylic paints for easy water clean up and safety.
• Place in your flower bed, near your walk or front yard.
• use non-toxic acrylic paints.
• supervise children around power tools.

Resources

• How to make Halloween Gourd Figures