How to make wooden Halloween blocks

I put together a little tutorial of the wooden block Halloween sign for you.  I had an extra set of wood blocks already cut out so it only took me hour to complete it from start to finish.  This is definitely a project you can get done in an afternoon.

To start I had my hubby cut out small wooden blocks (130 of them) from some 3/4 x 1.5 inch scrap lumber he already had laying around.  My finished blocks are roughly 1.5 x 2 inches but whatever size you have will work out fine.  You could even use store bought wooden alphabet blocks.

Once cut I lightly sanded the sides so that there was no rough edges that might splinter and then I painted them black with some crafters acrylic paint.  As you can see, I left one side partially unpainted since I was going to be adhering paper to it anyway.

One light coat is really all you need and it should dry rather quickly.  In fact, by the time I finished the last block the first one was dry enough to continue onto the next step.

Cut Halloween paper slightly smaller than your wooden blocks.  (I used "Thrilling" by Authentique.)  Using a gel medium such as Modge Podge begin adhering the paper to the unpainted side of your blocks.  When you modge podge always layer gel/paper/gel being careful to press down firmly and rub out any air bubbles beneath the paper.  Nothing does a better job of doing this than your fingers.

I used my Silhouette machine to cut out the letters in black cardstock but you could use stamps, punches or even print them out on your computer.  Once you've adhered the paper, attach your letters in the same manner, layering gel/paper/gel.  The gel will dry clear but I always rub as much of it off as possible so that it doesn't look gloppy.

Allow blocks to dry thoroughly before distressing the edges with black chalk ink.

Told ya...Easy. Peasy. 

I have a set of these blocks and a Harvest banner to give away to two lucky readers.  All you have to do is follow me here on the blog, like me on facebook and leave me a comment telling me you did so or already do.  Easy as 1, 2, 3.  I will draw one name for each item on Monday, 9/23/2013.

Let me know if you make a set, I'd love to come over and take a look.

xo, Patty