Title image closeup of reclaimed wood sign reading "Babny it's Cold ouside"

How To Make A Christmas Sign From Reclaimed Wood

— And a Heaping of Snow!

Simple to make sign for the holidays brings tons of charm to your farmhouse, cottage or rustic holiday celebrations. Graphics file included.

WELCOME to Day Seven of the 12 Days of Christmas Making: Decorating Edition. Yes we are starting our second week! And we’re starting in a big way with a sign made from reclaimed wood and a fun faux snow treatment.

12 Days of Christmas Making Title Graphics

If you are just joining us, be sure to catch up with the lanterns here,

and then the birch branch stocking rod here.

and last Friday, I shared my process for adding faux snow or flocking to my decor.

 

Go ahead, we’ll wait for you. My cup needs a refill anyway.

 

Great! Now you’re all caught up and today we are all about big and all about reclaimed wood. Yep, time to make a fun Christmas sign.

And better than that, it’s a great transition piece to take you right into Winter. I’m always down for a great two-for-one.

angled closeup of Baby it's cold outside sign with snowball lights draped loosely over the sign

Isn’t that the cutest!

I made ours with our upstairs fireplace in mind, The walls are all white and the wall above the mantel is rather short and very wide (the flanking built-ins are still living in my dreams).

The reclaimed wood is rather heavy, so I didn’t want to try to hang it, but rather prop it on the mantel.

I had planned to cover the legs with some greenery, but once i had it made, I really liked the legs. I like how they give a nod to old billboards or hand-lettered signs that used to be very prevalent along the 2-lane highways of old.

 

Where Will You Use Your Christmas/Winter Sign?

No mantel? Or perhaps you have a mantel the space above is already claimed, by a piece of technology, perhaps?

No worries! This could look great on a buffet, especially as a backdrop for a hot chocolate buffet. Speaking of, did you see Lynn’s Christmas Cocktails? Her Bailey’s Peppermint Coffee is crying out for this sign.

Or in an entry hall welcoming friends into your warmth.

How about on the back proch?

Size it for wherever you are planning a fun vignette.

[Sidenote: did I hear you moan about technology claiming that valuable above mantel real estate? If that was you, you definitely want to see Day 8. Lynn may just have your answer. Be sure to subscribe to Lynn also so you don’t miss out.

 

Full length front view of calssic cottage mantel featuring two lanterns with wreaths flanking a large reclaimed wood sig that reads "Baby, it's cold outside"

For my Classic Cottage Christmas stockings, I flanked the “Cold Outside” sign with vintage lanterns on reclaimed wood posts that we made on Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas Making. And this time, I maneuvered a plain green wreath around each lantern and tucked in some green leaves and red berries.

Then I added a full, but simple garland across the mantel hiding the legs of the sign.

Look closely and you’ll see that the stockings are all held on a stocking rod. This time it is a simple curtain rod in brown so it disappears against the dark mantel. The rod is held by just two stockings holders. You can see more about this here.

 

 

 

 

It’s super fun, right?

But you’re busy right now.

So maybe pin this to your Christmas Decor board

Or to your Winter Decor  board,

Or to your Farmhouse Signage board (if you have one of those),

Or to whatever board makes sense for you, so you have it handy when you’re ready to get started.

Pin with image of the sign on a wood mantel with title reading "Reclaimed Wood + Faux Sow = Charming Christmas Display"

 So Let’s Make a Large Wood Christmas Sign: 

picture of a bottle of craft paint, an open jar of gel medium, a box of faux snow and an artificial fir wreath

Materials & Supplies:

  • Reclaimed Wood (Or Distressed New Wood)
  • Paint (I used leftover white chalk paint and white craft paint)
  • Gesso Gel Medium (I LOVE this stuff and always have a jar on hand. HINT: we’ll be using it again on Day 8)
  • Faux Snow
  • Wood Screws
  • Saw
  • Drill
  • Stencil Paint Brush
  • Craft Paint Brush
  • Wood Craft Stick or Plastic Spoon for mixing
  • Access to Personal Cutting Machine and adhesive stencils (or a printer and carbon paper will do)

The following links are affiliate links, which means if you purchase anything using these links, you pay NOTHING extra, but I may receive a small commission. Please know that I will never recommend a product I do not believe in!

My very favorite drill. This bundle is complete and right at $100 — Can’t beat it!

LOVE my Cricut!

This is a newer model at a great price. I’d trade up, but really mine does everything I could want.

You’ll also see lots of Cricut bundles that might be cost effective.

 

Medium weight gel medium to add texture and depth to paint and snow!

The tools that help make it all work so well.

Not the exact snow I’ve had in my stash for years. But looks very similar.

 

You’ll want adhesive vinyl for all the stencils you’ll be creating once you have a Cricut.

This is our amazing sliding compound miter saw! (12-inch cut — great for those pantry shelves)

I thought it would be silly to put a bottle of white paint here, but this 8 oz bottle is just 2.50 right now with free shipping! You can’t drive and park at Hobby Lobby for that.

Now that you have all your supplies,

Let’s get started Making Your Christmas Display Sign:

Step 1) Cut Your Wood

 

Our mantel is quite high, but our wall is very wide. Someday we’ll have built-ins flanking the fireplace, but for now, this is what I’m working with.

Based on this, I cut my wood for three horizontal boards and two vertical “legs”. with an overall width of 38-inches and it stands 21-inches tall, including the legs.

Step 2) Assemble Your Sign

Lay your horizontal boards face down with a nail width between them.

Place your two vertical legs on top of these. I placed mine approximately 18-inches apart and equi-distanced from each side edge.

Using the appropriate length wood screws  for your wood, screw through the vertical lesgs and into the back of the face boards. Two screws in each horizontal board on each leg.

That’s it! Very easy assembly.

 

Step 3) Paint Your Sign

 

closeup of hand using the stencil paint brush
closeup of the tip of a Cricut weeding tool pulling off the stencil

Start by either cutting an adhesive stencil with a personal cutting machine (Cricut or Silhoutte)  or by cutting it out by hand with an exacto knife. 

I prefer to cut each line separately and place them as I want them positioned.

HINT: Notice in the picture that some of my letters were cut very close to the edge of my adhesive vinyl. If this happens to you, just add some painters tape along the edge to give yourself more margin for your stenciling.

When stenciling, be sure to use a light amount of paint on your stencil brush and use a pouncing up and down movement, do not brush side to side as this will make the paint bleed under the stencil edge.

Alternatively, you can print off your text and transfer the outline using carbon paper and then free hand paint it.

Once your stenciling is done, pull off your stencil. Sure you can break out your fancy Cricut weeding tool to get all the small pieces off (that’s weeding), or you can use a pair of tweezer, or even a straight pin will accomplish this task.

Step 4) Add Faux Snow 

super closeup of the detail of paint and faux snow as it appears to drift on top of the wood sign
Closeup of half the isgn resting in a disposable roasting pan to collect the over-sprinkle of faux snow

This is the fun part and really takes this project up a notch!

This is basically he same process I shared on Day 5 of our 12 Days of Christmas Making. So you might want to go back and visit that post before proceeding.

Once you’re ready to proceed, stand your sign up and on something to catch the overspill — or in this case, over-sprinkle — of snow. I used a disposable roasting pan and leaned my sign against the back of one of the counter stools we use in our hobby room.

Decide where you want your snow to cling to the sign. 

Now mix your craft paint and gel medium in a disposable cup. It gets quite thick so I used a plastic fork to mix it.

Lather your thickened paint on your sign, randomly building up a “drift” on the top edges here and there. And don’t forget where your boards stick out on the sides as that is where snow would naturally cling.

HINT: do one spot at a time. Lather on the paint then sprinkle snow, lather on the paint then sprinkle snow, etc. If a spot dries too much before you sprinkle, you can always add more wet paint on top of it and sprinkle again.

All the leftover snow that you collected in a roasting pan, or on a sheet of wax paper, gather and add back into your container of snow for another “Let it Snow” project.

 

Full view of wood mantel with 7 Cozy Copper Christmas stockings hanging below and ice skates, snowball lights and a large reclaimed wood sign that says "Baby, it's cold outside

Isn’t that the cutest?

Here I used the sign with my Cozy Copper Christmas stockings. To compliment their casual, “sporty” vibe, I paired the sign with some thin woodland style trees on one side, some casually draped “snowball” lights and a pair of ice skates. Those skates? Those were hubby’s first skates growing up. 

Day 9  will be all about those skates so be sure to come back as I’ll be sharing how I did those.

Pin showing two pictures of the sign with the title reading"Reclaimed Wood, Faux Snow, Christmas Display"

Can’t believe we are halfway through our 12 Days of Christmas Making.

And I have so much more I want to share!!! I’ll just have to keep it going. Would you like that? Please subscribe so you don’t miss a single post.

Please believe me when I say I truly, truly appreciate you coming and spending a bit of your valuable time here with me. I hope I can help inspire you and encourage you to try something new, something that might be just a tad bit outside your norm, your comfort zone. And above all, that your life, your home, your holidays have a bit more joy.

Here's to Joy-Filled Living, Diane

4 Comments

  1. Lynn

    Just love the sign! It looks perfect on the mantle with your beautiful stockings

    I’ve been wanting a Cricut for a long time. I think I might just have to get one.

    Reply
    • Diane

      Highly, highly recommend getting a Cricut — and I can’t say I’ve ever used it for traditional paper crafts or scrapbooking. They are so versatile!

      Reply
  2. Leslie Watkins

    So adorable! I can’t wait to see how you put together those cute skates! Always a fan of using those for Christmas!

    Reply
    • Diane

      Thanks Leslie. That post is coming right up.

      Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Charming Home Decor from Vintage Ice Skates - South House Designs - […] And that reclaimed wood sign? We made that on Day 7. […]
  2. How To DIY An Awesome, Decorative Long Wooden Box - South House Designs - […] I’ve certainly decorated my fair share of mantels. Just last Christmas alone, this one and this one and this…
  3. 7 Great "Think Beyond a Wreath" Fireplace Christmas Decor - South House Designs - […] It’s all right here. […]
  4. How To Revive Old Christmas Village Houses For Your Tree and More - South House Designs - […] way of adding snow to my holiday decor pieces. A full tutorial is here. And I used it here…
  5. Thrifting List: Best Finds For Great Upcycled Christmas Decor - South House Designs - […] made this sign from some reclaimed wood that someone else was throwing […]

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