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Decorative Welcome Plaque for Fall


Are you looking for outdoor fall decorating ideas ? Here’s a fall decorative plaque we made, and we wanted to share the idea with anyone looking for a little seasonal decorating inspiration for an entry feature for a front porch, or for something to hang on the front door. We kept the message simple with a ‘Welcome’ greeting, but with this type of project, you could use any message or greeting, making it warm or whimsical.

For this project, we chose both a greeting and a few images. The images were created with handmade stencils  (pumpkin and the letters) and store bought (vine/leaf) stencil. The entire project was pretty easy to do. It did require some waiting time for paint to dry, but since it was acrylic paint it wasn’t too much time.

 

 

 

We started at the craft store, looking for a plaque shape that we thought would work, and then found a couple of paints for the main colors – Heritage Brick for the background color, and Golden Straw (blended with a teensy bit of plum) for the lettering, and for brushstroke layering for the pumpkin. One of us already had some craft paints which we used to custom blend a few of the colors.

 

 

 

Supplies

One of the first things we did was a search in the world of fonts online to find one that would be similar to script, but with individual letters. The font we found and used is called ‘Lara’s Letters’. There are many font sites online that have both free and for-purchase font styles.

Wood Plaque

Acrylic Craft Paints

Stencils – for images

Hardware – for attaching raffia/ribbon for hanging; we used what is called a ring hanger which one of us had on hand

Natural Raffia & Ribbon – for hanging

 

Stenciling & Painting the Plaque

 

Since the plaque was bare wood, we thought it was a good idea to seal it with primer before painting. This also helps the finishing colors to read true.

Applying the main color over the primer layer

 

 

We wanted it to have a vintage look, and we first thought that we would be sanding the edges a bit after it was all painted. We wanted another color under the final color to give it a layered look after it was sanded, so we added a bit of color to the white primer.

 

We were going to do two coats of the final color, but we liked the way you could see the tinted primer through the brush strokes, and it turned out to have the perfect effect. It had sort of an old red barn look to it.

 

After the plaque color was on, we painted on the pumpkin at the top with a stencil we made using card stock.

 

 

 

 

 

For both stencils (pumpkin and ‘Welcome’) we used a stencil sponge to completely fill in the openings, and then used an artist’s brush over it to get  a brush stroke look.

 

If you have ever layered color, you know how it can create depth, or adds dimension, in an image. We layered two different colors on the pumpkin to create depth. We used a brush for the stem, layering colors as well.

 

We used a store bought stencil for the vines and leaves at the top and bottom of the plaque. A darker green was used first, and a lighter, but muted, green was layered over it for highlights, and to contrast it from the darker background.

 

Vine and leaf stenciling

 

 

For the words you use on your plaque, you’ll likely have to play with the font size, and the arranging and locating of the words. We printed the word ‘Welcome’ out on card stock (which helps to create a stencil with some substance), and then cut the letters out to make a stencil.

 

This is all the same font size shown here. After seeing it, we thought that the ‘W’ should be larger in size and that’s what you see in the finished design.

 

 

For letters that have an opening in them, like ‘o’ or ‘e’, just leave a small piece of the paper attached to keep it in place while you are stenciling. After the stencil is removed, that void can be painted in with a brush.

 

If you look closely, you’ll see the tab connecting the opening of the letter ‘e’.

 

 

The ring hangers were attached last, along with the natural raffia hanger and ribbon. We used a single strand of ribbon entwined in the raffia for an extra pop of color.

 

Take care not to go completely through the wood.

 

 

Ring hangers were mounted on back of plaque.

 

 

Raffia and ribbon for hanging

 

 

Other types of hanging hardware could be used; it just depends on how and where you want to display the plaque.

 

Here are a couple of ways we thought the plaque would look good displayed outdoors on the porch-

 

 

 

 

 

So far we haven’t decided which one of us gets to keep the plaque! Maybe we’ll give it to our Mom…or not!

 

 

 

Happy fall!

 

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