We’re talking handpainted signs today. I’ve made a bazillion handpainted signs without any fancy machinery. And today I’m sharing how to make this ‘no tricks only treats’ sign for your Halloween front door.
A DIY tutorial to make a handpainted sign for Halloween. No fancy stencil or cutting machine necessary here just your computer and a steady hand.
This painting technique is simple and straight forward and there’s no vinyl cutting machine necessary. To be honest I actually prefer the variations that come from handpainting the letters.
Sign Backer
For this sign a few bits of scrap wood from the cut off bin put together to make the background and frame. Then you can use my printable PDF file below or make your own design.
Printable Sign Pattern
Supplies:
- 2 – 1×6 scrap wood @ 16″
- 2 – 1×2 wood @ 16″
- 1×2 – 2 @ 11″
- 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws
- 1 1/4″ finish nails
- wood glue
- drill
- printed template (click here for free PDF file)
- ballpoint pen
- acrylic paints
- paintbrush
Step 1: Make the backing for the handpainted sign. Attach the 2 – 1×6 @ 16″ together side by side using wood glue and 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.  Alternatively you could use mending plates if you don’t have a pocket hole jig.  Also stain the boards (if desired, on the front) before you add the frame.
Step 2: Then cut 4 – 1×2 pieces for the frame and attach using wood glue and 1 1/4″ finish nails.
Step 3: Print out the lettering template (use my file here or create your own). Â Center the print out on the wood and trace the letters using a ballpoint pen with heavy pressure.
Step 4: Paint on and inside the indent left behind by the pen. Â I used white acrylic craft paint with a small brush. Â Go slow.
Step 5: Create a shadow with a darker color paint adding a line down and to the right of each letter.
At this point I hung it on the door and decided I definitely needed to paint the frame.
Step 6: Mask off the sign portion and paint the frame. Then sand to distress and apply stain to enhance the distressing. Finally seal everything with exterior use clear poly.
Thanks for joining me for this scrap wood handpainted sign project. Please follow me on social media for sneak peeks and more project inspiration:
A few more handpainted sign ideas I’ve shared over the years:
Love this sign Jaime!! The orange on the outside is perfect!
Love your sign! I've got to try your painting technique, your signs always look amazing.
Great! Thank you. I’m not much for transfer stuff.. most of the time I still have to go back over it anyway and hand painting it you can get a lot more detail . I really like the idea of the ballpoint pen . Thank you very much you gave me a project to do this weekend . Thank you so much for your ideas and I hope you have a wonderful weekend