Photo: Gina Provenzano
For those of you who go all out for Halloween, here's a holiday decorating idea for your front door. I picked up some unpainted wooden plaques at Michael's craft store and started thinking about how to use them. Although it seems a kind of backwards way of going about things, I sometimes just get inspired by the material. So, I thought, why not make a Halloween greeting that you can tailor as desired? The end result is a doorhanger that works best for doors that actually have knobs (this door did not and some faking was involved)...otherwise you can hang it from the center as you would a wreath.
Now, getting down to business, you don't have to be a woodworker to make this craft. I have a manual screw drill which is an amazing tool to have on hand for crafting and a whole bunch of other handiwork around the house. You can buy it for about $13 on Amazon.com. With that in hand, some paint, stamps or a steady hand and some string, you're ready to roll.
What you'll need:
-Small Wooden plaques (about 3" x 4" x 1/8")
-Paint - black, orange, pale yellow
-Alphabet Stamps (optional if not hand printing)
-Paintbrush
-Manual drill
-Painter's Tape
-Twine
-Scissors
-Ribbon
-Tape Measure
-Pencil
-Spray Acrylic Sealer
What to do:
1. Paint wooden pieces black and let dry thoroughly.
2. Tape off 1/2" along outer edges, paint unmasked center with orange paint. Allow to dry.
3. Stamp or hand paint one letter on each wooden plaque to spell out your message (don't make it too long, not over 6 letters).
4. Add spider webs, bats, spiders and other motifs with black paint.
5. Highlight letters and motifs with pale yellow paint. Allow to dry.
6. Spray with sealer and let dry.
7. Use tape measure and drill to make four holes in each plaque. Two at top edges and two at bottom edges (except for bottom letter plaque which only has top two holes).
8. Place letters on a flat surface about 1/2" apart vertically. Measure and cut two pieces of twine equal to the measurement of the vertical letters plus 18 inches.
9. Make a knot in one end of twine. Starting at the bottom of the plaque, weave twine through back to front of plaque and then through front bottom of next plaque. Continue until excess remains at top. Repeat for other side.
10. Gather two ends together, make a loop letting excess hang. Now tie a loop knot (if you need a brush up on knots, try this camping field guide for easy step-by-step instructions on tying a simple loop knot). Trim excess twine.
11. Tie a ribbon bow or two around knot and let ends hang. If desired, add jingle bells to ends.
