Dead & Breakfast Inn Signs with Clever Halloween Phrases
- Aged barn board
- Saw-toothed blade (for cutting boards)
- Drill and small drill bit (optional, for hanging signs)
- Exterior latex paint in brown, gray, white
- Water
- Two 2-inch-wide trim brushes
- Graphite tracing paper and pencil
- Artist's liner brush
- Black acrylic crafts paint
- Barbed wire, optional
Download the free "Don't Let the Dead Bugs Bite" pattern.
- Download the free patterns for desired signs and print.
- Gather miscellaneous pieces of aged board and cut to size, referring to the patterns. Drill hanging holes if desired.
- Mix a 1:1 solution of water and gray or dark brown latex paint to create a color wash. Dip a trim brush into the wash, wiping off the excess. Drag the brush lightly along the wood surface to give it an aged look. (Let the texture of the wood show through the paint.) Let dry for 5 minutes.
- Dip the second trim brush into white latex paint to pick up a scant amount of paint. Dry-brush white paint on areas where you want the color to be the lightest; let dry. Dry-brush dark brown around the edges of the boards; let dry thoroughly.
- Trace the text designs from the downloaded patterns onto tracing paper. Transfer using graphite transfer paper. Use a pencil to darken the graphite lines if necessary.
- Use a liner brush to paint the lettering onto the board in black acrylic paint.
- Use barbed wire, if desired, to ominously hang the signs.
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