Make Your Own Fall Sign

A few weeks ago I started to decorate for fall outside and this week I decided to concentrate on bringing a little fall happiness into our home. I started with this DIY fall sign, With just a few supplies, you can make a fall sign for your own home.

This sign is a nice central piece for fall decorations. After making my sign, I added a few more pieces to complete my fall mantle decor. The nice part about the sign is that it didn't take long to make. Within 30 minutes, I had a fall sign I made myself.
When making this sign, I used a new process for painting the letters. Generally I make a stencil and paint in the open area. This time I printed the words onto paper and used a pencil to transfer the words onto my wood board. I will show you later exactly how it worked.

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Supplies Needed to Make Your Own Fall Sign

Wood Piece

Paint (I used Apple Barrel Nutmeg Brown, Territorial Beige, and White. I also used Americana Cadmium Orange)

Paintbrush

Piece of paper

Pencil

Printer

Tape

Cricut Machine and pen (optional)

Craft Mat

Mod Podge - matte finish

How to Make Your Fall Sign

The piece of wood I used for this project is a 7 x 9-inch rectangle plaque with beveled edges. You can buy these at craft stores or online, but my favorite place to check first is a local thrift store. I find so many of the wood pieces I use in my projects at the thrift store.

1. Lay down your craft mat to protect your crafting area. The mat I always use is my Mod Podge silicone craft mat. You can read my detailed review of this useful product in this post.

2. Using your darkest color, paint your wood piece on the top, the beveled edges, and the flat side.

3. Using the lighter brown, you will want to paint a layer of that on top of the darker paint - just on the flat top of the wood piece. It doesn't have to completely cover the darker paint, you can have streaks of the darker color showing through.

4. Mix your lighter brown and a bit of white together, but don't completely mix the two together. To get the right look, the paint shouldn't be totally incorporated together. Paint that over the top of the lighter brown coat you just finished. It doesn't have to be a smooth finish. To make the paint look a bit distressed, you want to be able to see a bit of the darker colors show through.

5. Pick a font you want to use and write the words Happy Fall in your word document program. Make sure your letter spacing will fit onto your wood plaque. My printer was out of ink, so I used a marker/pen in my Cricut machine to write out the words for me.

6. Trim your paper to the right size, then tape it to your wood plaque. You will use your pencil to carefully trace the printed letters. As you apply pressure with the pencil, it will leave a slight indentation on your wood piece.

It's kind of hard to see where the indentation is in the picture above, but when you do this yourself, you can clearly see the outline of the letters that you will have to fill in.

7. Using a fine tip paintbrush, you will use your orange paint to fill in the letter indentation. This takes a steady hand, but if you work slowly you should do just fine. I had to paint two layers of the orange to get it the depth of color that I wanted.

8. After you have finished painting your letter, check to see if there are any areas that need a bit of touch up.

9. I always add a quick layer of Mod Podge to the top of my project. It helps prevent scratching or chipping of the paint.

You now have a fall sign that will bring a bit of happiness and cheer to your decorations. I love having mine next to my new super cute owl candle holder.

You can use the fall sign you made indoors or outdoors. It looks great in either fall decor display!