You may have noticed in my Touch of Fall Home Tour post the “Harvest” sign I used to decorate my front porch. I made that sign last year and it is one of my favorite things to decorate with come fall and Christmas time! The reason why is because (1) it was really cheap and easy to make, and (2) it’s double-sided so I can use it all the way through Christmas!
I told you I’d show you how I did it, so here we go!
DIY Double Sided Porch Sign
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What You’ll Need:
- 6′ board (mine is 10″ wide)
- Large letters printed on card stock or paper
- Sharpie paint pen
- Acrylic paint in black
- Paint brushes
- Painter’s tape
- Red and white spray paint
- Minwax Early American wood stain
What You’ll Do:
- First, stain one side of your board with Early American stain. It’s a nice warm stain that’s not too dark. You can choose any stain color, but this is the one I used.
- After your stain dries, flip the board over and spray the other side white. Give it a good two or three coats. Let dry.
- After the paint dries, use your painter’s tape to mark out stripes on the white side of your board. The easiest way to make even stripes is by using a length of painters tape as a “spacer” and placing it right up against the stripe of tape before it. Here’s how:First, I put a piece of tape in the corner at an angle. Then take a length of tape to use as the “spacer” and put it up against the corner piece. Then put a third length of tape up against your “spacer” piece of tape. After you place one length of tape down, you just keep moving your “spacer” tape down the board until you’ve created even stripes all the way down.
- Once you have all your stripes of tape down, spray the board with red spray paint. Two or three coats should do it. Let dry.
- After your paint has dried, remove your painter’s tape. You now have a candy cane stripe side of your board!
- While your paint is drying you should cut out the letters for the words you’ll paint on the board. I chose the word “HARVEST” for my stained side and the word “JOY” for my candy cane side. You can use words like “WELCOME,” “JINGLE,” “MERRY,” etc. Whatever floats your boat.
- Now that you have your letters cut out, place your letter templates down on the stained side of your board and once you have them spaced to your liking, secure them with a bit of painters tape just to make sure they don’t move. Now use a pencil to trace the letters onto the board.
- Now, using your black Sharpie paint pen, carefully outline your letters. I do this because I am not very good at painting letters with sharp lines. My hand just isn’t that steady. Outlining with a sharpie makes it easier for me to “color in the lines” when I fill in with paint.
- After you have all your letters outlined, go back to the beginning and, using black acrylic paint, fill in your letters with a paint brush. Let dry.
- Once your stained side is dry, flip it over and repeat the process on the candy cane side. Trace, outline, paint, let dry.
- Almost done! After all your paint is dry, add whatever embellishments you like to your sign. I topped my “HARVEST” side with a burlap bow and I hung a small wreath from the “JOY” side.
- Finally, place your sign out on your porch, add some pumpkin and mums (or some Christmas decor) and you’re done!
Isn’t it cute? I just love the way it turned out and I especially love that I can use it through two whole holiday seasons! This is how I used it at my old home last fall and Christmas.
This is how I’ve used it for my fall front porch this year! I still love this sign and I can’t wait to turn it around and use it in my Christmas decor in just a couple of months (can you believe it?!).
Do you have a favorite way to pretty up your front porch for fall?
I have always loved these oversized door signs! You are genius to make them double sided! Why didn’t I think of that!? I’m off to tell my husband I need a large board so I can get started on one of these! lol
This is so cute. I absolutely love it – especially since it’s double sided and saves on storage.
This is so cute! I am going to try to convince myself to get the materials and make it, I love that with a quick flip you are ready for the Christmas season.
This is such a great sign, knowing that it can be used for two different seasons makes me want to get making it soon. Yikes, can’t believe the time is going so quick, we are almost into October so Christmas really isn’t that far away. When do you like to start your Christmas decorating?
I like this idea so much! I pinned it in hopes to make it soon!
What an adorable awesome project. Can’t wait to see the stripe side during Christmas time
Fun! I am all about multi-purposed or reusable decorations haha. Even better when they’re fairly inexpensive to start with, like this one! Thanks for the tutorial 🙂
Love this idea! I also really love your gather welcome mat.
I love this idea. How cute!!!!! I’m going to try this for our front porch.
What did you do to the sides of the board?
I kept them plain white.