DIY Christmas Porch Sign

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD THE FREE SVG FILE

The first thing you’ll need to do is get the free SVG file you’ll use for this project.  I keep all the SVG files I use for the projects I make in my SVG Library.  These SVG files work with Cricut and Silhouette machines, as well as many others.  This library is open to everyone and is free!  You can access the library here. Look for the file called Farm Fresh Christmas Trees BA2124. It will be listed under the Craftmas 2022 Category-Day 24.

 

STEP 2: CUT THE VINYL DESIGN

Open the design in your cutting software.  Size the design to fit on your wood.  My wood sign is about 13″ wide and I resized the designs to about 11.5″.  You can watch the video above to see how I used ovals to create my stencil shape.

Once everything is sized correctly, cut out the design with your Cricut or Silhouette.

Then, weed away the excess vinyl. Since this is a stencil, you’ll pull out the letters and design elements.

Cut a piece of transfer tape a little larger than your design and place the vinyl on top of it.

Rub over the design with your scraper.

Trim off the excess transfer tape.

STEP 3: PREPARE THE WOOD PIECES

Next, let’s work on painting the wood pieces.

You’ll need a 12″ square piece of wood, an 8″ square piece of wood, and a 4′ piece of wood cut from a 4″ x 4″ post.

Mark the center of each piece of wood by drawing a diagonal line from corner to corner. Mark the front and back on both of the squares.

Then, drill a small hole through the center of each x.  You’ll want to drill the post about 1″ – 1.5″.

Add some glue to the smaller square.

Then, press the small square onto the larger square.

Screw the two pieces together while the glue dries.

Make sure the lines on the squares match up.

When the glue dries, you can remove the screw.

Flip the two squares over so the larger square is on top.  Then, put the post in the center of the square and draw an outline of the post.  You can match up the corners of the post with the diagonal lines to help you center the post.

Remove the post and make 4 marks inside of the square you just drew.

Then, drill through each of those holes.  You’ll want to drill through both of the squares.  There should now be 5 holes in the wood.

Add some glue to the middle of the smaller square.

Put a screw through the center hole of the two squares and screw the post to the squares.  You should have drilled a pilot hole in the post, so it should be pretty easy to screw the pieces together.

Make sure the post is still centered on the smaller square, then you can put screws in the other 4 holes and tighten them up.

Now, you can paint the post.  I’m going to use black spray paint for mine.

STEP 4: STENCIL THE SIGN

Grab the vinyl stencil and pull off the vinyl backing.

Position the design on the wood.  To center the design, I matched up the edges of the ovals with the edges of the sign.

Rub over the design with your scraper.

Then, carefully pull off the transfer tape.

Rub over the design a few more times.

Next, you’ll want to paint over the stencil with a light coat of white paint  This will help prevent bleeding.

Once the white paint is dry, you can fill in the stencil with the colored paints.  You’ll want to do a couple of light coats rather than one thick heavy coat.

When the paint is dry to the touch, you can carefully pull off the vinyl stencil.

Use a weeding tool or craft knife to remove any vinyl pieces left behind.

 

STEP 5: ASSEMBLE THE SIGN

There are three holes for hooks on the bracket I’m using.  I’m going to use the two outermost holes to hang my sign.

Center the two holes on the sign and make marks that correspond with the holes on the bracket.

Then drill a pilot hole into each of the marks.

Screw an eye hook into each of the holes.

Place the bracket on your post and mark the screw holes.

Drill pilot holes and then attach the bracket with the included screws.

I found the cutest solar light to use as a post cap.  It’s just perfect for this sign.

Attach the post cap to the top of the post with 2 screws.

Wrap some garland around the post and secure it in place.

The garland I used had a loop at each end, so it was easy to attach to the post.  I just put a screw at the top of the post inside the loop.  Then, I wrapped the garland around the post and pulled it tight.  When I got to the bottom, I added another screw.  The garland felt secure to me.  If you’re worried about it coming off, you can add some glue.

Place the hanging hooks into the bracket.

Then, put the hanging hooks through the eye hooks on the sign.

And this sign is finished! I just love it!

 

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Want to make your own? Get the free cut file for this project in the resource library