Fall Decor with DIY Fall Signs

Decorating for the new season is very affordable when using signs, they look great as wall art, on a shelf, on the door, or just about anywhere you want to bring a pop of decor or color. Making a set of Fall signs like the ones I'm sharing with you today would take you a couple of hours painting them. But, you're going to have a set of signs to decorate your home for years to come!

I was cleaning the garage, bringing the tools back to where they belong which is good, because I finally found one measuring tape I really like and I was looking for it for months! It's the only one I have that gives me the measurements on the fractional read, 1/8 -1/4 -3/8-1/2.... I still get confused figuring out if 3/8 is bigger than 3/4 or is it the other way around?! Anyways, I found it and I'm happy.

I also wanted to begin organizing the many pieces of wood I have laying on the ground. :/  Every time I begin that task, a project immediately appears, this time was no exception.  I found these three pieces of wood. I like the dado cuts on their sides.

I recently did a makeover to an old hutch which had a damaged drawer. Well, I replaced the damaged drawer for a basket and the parts of sad drawer were still laying around in the garage. That's when the idea of using those parts to make Fall signs appeared. The hardest part was deciding the words, fonts and colors to use. Lucky you,  they're all ready for you to download HERE, HERE and HERE.

The Materials and tools you'll need

• 3 wooden boards (mine were 6" width x 21" long and 6" width x 16" long)
• Printables found here, here and here.
• Acrylic paints (white, orange, red, green, black)
• Brushes (small paint brush and very small detail brushes to delineate the letters)
• Graphite paper
• Pencil
• Painters tape
• Palm sander or sand paper
• Dark wax

Directions

Decide what boards you want to have a painted background on and paint them. I painted one completely, other, was taped off to create a border, and the last one was left alone. One of the painted boards was also given some brush strokes of orange paint after the white paint had dried.

Then again, some more brush strokes of white paint on top, lightly covering most of the orange.

Once dry and using the graphite paper, transfer the designs onto the boards. If you're using a soft wood you don't even need graphite paper, tracing the pattern by indenting the wood would work.

Having the designs on the wood means...

It's time to paint. Use a small flat artist brush to go along those lines, filling in those letters. It doesn't have to be perfect!

They were almost done with only tracing along the lines and filling in.

But, creating some shadows with an even smaller brush or tracing around some of the letters with a plain black Sharpie, would make them look waaay better.

The final step is to give them that good'ol feel. ;)
Using the palm sander distress them.
And finally, apply a light coat of dark wax.

I love how the wood texture shows through after sanding them.

I didn't distress much the pumpkin seeds sign.  A long white paint mark was done by accident while painting the other boards. I think it adds to the overall rustic feel.

Here on the wall:

Now I can't wait to decorate my home with these new cuties. Don't be afraid of painting the letters, give them a try! Besides, the distressing part kind of erases many of the mistakes done while painting.


Check how one of the signs look on my Fall Hutch right HERE.

On my Fall mantel here:

You can also check this other drawer repurpose project: A Desk Drawer turned Basket.