Halloween Decor with a DIY Spooky Wood Sign

Creating a DIY spooky wood sign is a great way to add a custom look to your Halloween decor with this sign DIY project. This uses a fun transfer method and ink jet prints on paper to create a unique decor item for spooky season. There are free printables below to make this sign. While there are a lot a of  transfer methods I have found like this and this, the easiest by far is using the ink right from your inkjet printer! Did you know that depending on the colorfastness of your ink, you can transfer to wood right from printed paper with water? No chemicals, not solvents. It opens up so many possibilities! Also, for more DIY signs, see how to host a sign painting party here.

Supplies to Create a DIY Spooky Halloween Sign

2 x 8 common wood board

White acrylic paint (Craft or house paint works)

Ink Jet printer and paper

Black marker and/or black paint

Paper Towels

Brown craft paint

Water

Painter’s Tape

Sign hanging items like eye hooks or rope

Print out Your Printables

This method works best on bare or light unfinished wood  so you can see the black ink. I tried color and it did not work at all. And you have to use inkjet, it can’t be a laser printer. Print out the printables and make sure that the lettering is reversed on the paper so that it will be right side up when transferred to the board itself.

Cut the Board to Size

A 2 x 8  cut down to 4 feet (48 inches) works perfectly, but an old wood piece works too. Home Depot cut the board to size for me  for free, and now many home improvement stores have pre-cut craft and project wood that’s easy to grab and go.

Coat the Wood in Paint

Squirt the acrylic craft paint all over to spread it out. And then use a paper towel to the paint into the wood. This will give it a less uniform appearance when applying the paint and let the wood grain show through for a more rustic look.

Let the paint dry and plan the positioning for the printable artwork.

After it dried, I laid my images where I wanted them on the board. You want to print them backwards or in reverse so they transfer correctly.

Once the design is planned, tape the top of the paper down to keep it in place. Grab a lightly damp paper towel and wring out the excess. Don’t make it sopping wet or the ink will run on the paper. When applying the paint only do one section at a time, it may dry out quickly.

After the back of the paper is damped use the back end of  a sharpie marker to rub firmly to transfer the ink.

You can carefully lift one corner and check to see if it’s transferring okay.

 It will dry pretty fast. For more tips on  image transfer, check out this post here.

If you want lettering to be a little darker and a have a little more contrast in places, go over it with black acrylic craft paint.

For an Aged Look Add Glazing

If a more aged look is desired ,add a light glazed with brown acrylic paint to make it look a little more aged. You can also use a regular glaze if you like.

 

Add a Clear Coat to Protect the Sign

I finished it with an outdoor polyacrylic so it will hold to the elements. If it were for indoors, you could use  a brown paste wax for a cool look. This post has information about antiquing and adding patina to furniture with brown paint instead of wax.

Hang the Sign

I used eye hooks and black ribbon to hang it on the top but holes can also be drilled through the board to hang as well.

I love how it turned out! In fact, if you want to make one of your own, here are the printables! Right click save and  make sure you reverse them before printing!

You can get the The pointing hand graphic here from the Graphics Fairy