In this post we’re going to talk about making a super cute front porch sign that can take you from halloween all the way through January.
We are using reclaimed and cull lumber to make ours, as it is often free or dirt cheap, but you can also buy wood brand new from the hardware store.
The materials you will need for this project are:
- 3 pieces of tongue-and-groove boards (we used tongue-and-groove siding, so one side is much rougher than the other)
- 2 pieces of 2×4 lumber
- 2 colors of stain (light and dark)
- Sandpaper
- White paint
- Black paint
- Orange paint
- Wood glue
- Drill
- Self-starting screws
To start, cut your tongue-and-groove boards to about 30 inches long.
You can choose to go longer or shorter, but this gives you the height to make the perfect front porch sign.
Try to ensure all your pieces are relatively the same length! Measure the width of your 3 pieces when they are put together and cut your 2×4 to be 2 inches longer on each side.
You will also need to cut two “triangle” pieces to support your 2×4 pieces.
Cut these out of your leftover 2×4 with 2 inches on one side and a 15 degree angle.
To make your sign, first go over everything lightly with sandpaper. You don’t need to use a power sander because you don’t need to get it perfectly smooth. Just take off the splintery bits and get everything ready to be painted or stained. Then, take wood glue and apply a line of glue lightly into 2 of the 3 grooves. Insert the tongues into the grooves with the glue and push everything tightly to secure.
You can wait for the glue to dry if you want to, but you don’t have to.
Next, take your 2x4s and align them where you want them on your tongue-and-groove boards.
This will serve as the brim of your scarecrow & snowman hats.
Don’t worry about the angle, that is what your two scrap triangle pieces are for.
You will place the two scrap pieces between your long 2x4s to secure them together.
They should be flush with the edge of your tongue-and-groove boards and the edge of your 2x4s.
Using your self-starting screws and a power drill, screw your end pieces together first.
This way you can still move it around if you don’t like the placement of the hat but everything is still held together.
Once you like the placement, use your self starting screws and (on the rough side of your tongue and groove boards) place one screw in each board through the 2×4 to secure everything.
With the rough side still up, take your two colors of stain and get ready for some staining!
I recommend using plastic gloves to keep your hands clean. I used two plastic gloves on my “staining” hand and one on the other for safety.
To ensure I didn’t put too much stain on, I used a thin rag to apply the stain.
Just a light coating of your lighter color on the bottom of your sign (this will be the face) and a somewhat thicker coating of the dark stain on the hat and brim.
Be sure to do this outside or in a well-ventilated area, and allow to dry overnight.
When the stain is dry, flip your piece over to the smooth side and bust out the paint.
You will paint the bottom part white and the hat and brim black.
Make sure it is thick enough that you can’t see the wood through.
Also, a matte paint works better than a gloss for this project.
Once that paint is dry, it is time to paint the faces on each side!
This is a more creative process than the rest of this, but for the scarecrow we gave him “stitched on” eyebrows and mouth, and a candy corn nose.
We also added a little patch to the brim of his hat.
The snowman got black dots for eyes and his mouth, and we actually used a scrap of 1×2 to cut a long triangle nose that we attached with E600 glue.
Super cute, very easy, and they make great gifts for neighbors or family as holiday decorations!