Vintage Inspired Halloween Sign Tutorial

While fall is one of my favorite seasons to decorate for, I like to keep my Halloween decor less on the spooky side, and more on the “It’s okay if I leave this up for weeks after October” side. I’m a big fan of vintage posters and art, and when I saw an adorable free image on The Graphics Fairy, I immediately knew what my next fall project would be! I would put a vintage twist on DIY Halloween signs.

DIY Halloween Signs Project Supplies:

• Darice Wooden Pallet Sign (or choose from these Darice wood signs)
• Americana Chalky Paint in Vintage Scout
• Mod Podge Matte
• American Decor Acrylic Paint in Cocoa Bean
• Darice Foam Brush (3)
• Vintage Halloween Image (from The Graphics Fairy)
• Color Printer & Paper
• Darice Scissors or a Paper Cutter
• Damp Cloth

This project can be done with any free printable or vintage paper brochure or poster that you have. Because it’s done upon an unfinished pallet, be warned – your sign will not be super-smooth. Instead, it will have the interesting bumps and wear that makes the sign seem as if it is years old.

So much potential! And isn’t it screaming for paint? Vintage Scout is one of my most favorite craft paints. One coat is all you need. I often use foam brushes to get the best and most efficient coverage.

While the sign dried, I trimmed off any white edges on my image. I love finding my printables at The Graphics Fairy. She finds royalty-free images from days gone by; it’s an amazing resource for home decor and card-makers and perfect for making vintage inspired DIY Halloween signs.

Next, I crumpled the image up a bit.

Mr. Suburble looked over with a raised eyebrow when I gave the paper a slight “smushing”. I also dog-eared the corners and gently ripped two of them.

“It’s making it vintage!” I explained, as he stood, puzzled over my project. Trust me.

Paper and Mod Podge can be tricky. This coupling is even more tricky when the surface that you’re applying to is rough and uneven.

But thankfully, in this case, we’re going for a worn vintage look. The craft gods are on our side! I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge to the dried sign, and then gently laid down the paper, pressing out from the center to the sides of the image.

There will be wrinkles, and that’s okay. You just want to get the big air bubbles out from behind the image. Work the bubbles out – gently, you don’t want to tear the paper – and then leave the Mod Podge to dry.

On a paper plate, I whipped up an antiquing “glaze” of sorts from Mod Podge and Cocoa Bean paint mixed together. I’ll admit that I went a bit heavy on the paint in this image. Start slowly and with just a little bit of paint. Work your way up to the amount of antiquing you like.

I gently brushed on the antique-Mod Podge over the exposed wood. I was less generous with the Mod Podge mixture over the image itself – I didn’t want to obscure the image.

If you get too heavy with the brown in some places, use a wet cloth to immediately remove the glaze. I found that this was really helpful to encourage the brown to fall into the seams between the pieces of wood.

Once the glaze has dried, a final coat of Mod Podge will seal the entire sign. And once they dry, you DIY Halloween signs are ready for displaying!

I gave mine pride-of-place in a vignette with a ceramic ghost pumpkin and black Halloween trees. Learn how to make the trees in this Halloween tree DIY tutorial. When it comes to celebrating a holiday that’s supposed to be scary, I’d rather have decorations that are adorable!