How to Make a Reversible Holiday Sign For Fall & Christmas

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More Crafts/DIY

This DIY porch sign will add gorgeous curb appeal to your home for fall and Christmas!

Woman holding a DIY holiday porch sign

Celebrate fall (and Christmas, too!) with this fun DIY project!

Consider making just one sign to display on your porch for multiple holidays! I love the idea of getting double the use out of one piece of decor, and this is such a fun and easy painting craft project, too.

You’ll be able to display your pretty reversible Fall & Christmas porch sign to welcome guests, whether you place it outside or indoors!

merry christmas porch sign with stencils

There are a few ways to make a porch sign like this, and, today, I’ll be demonstrating the process using stencils and paint. This piece was first painted on all sides in solid white and then once that dried, I used the stencils to paint the wording and designs using red and orange paint.

home depot employee cutting wood for porch sign

Here are what supplies you’ll need to get started!

My piece of MDF 2×4 wood came from the Home Depot for this craft project, and I had it cut down to a 1 ft x 4 ft size in store. I can use the leftover piece of wood to make another sign in the future!

If you have some scrap wood already on hand in the garage, this could be an opportunity to use it without even buying wood! You could even ask someone at your local Home Depot if they have extra cull wood, which is normally marked down for super cheap, sometimes even free!

diy porch sign stencils

I found the perfect reusable stencils to use for this idea on Amazon!

Check out this cute fall set of stencils with the letters F-A-L-L and a few other fall-related designs and the word “hello”. I also bought this set of Christmas stencils for the Merry Christmas design. Though my stencil is currently unavailable, but Amazon has a very similar design for sale!

If you already have stencils on hand you’d prefer to use, that is great as well!

stenciling a porch sign for christmas

I went through my garage and used leftover latex Behr house paint samples for this paint project, which worked out great. You could also use craft paints instead. Feel free to use colors you’d prefer or have on hand. Next time I’d like to try a wood stain and paint combo maybe. There are so many possibilities for this idea as it’s very customizable.

Hip Tip: You could even use heat transfer vinyl and a regular handheld iron and simply iron the vinyl on as an alternative to painting!

Using a dabber to stencil a fall porch sign

Tips for making the best DIY reversible Fall and Christmas porch sign:

  • Stenciling is not hard, but it can be tricky. The biggest tip is to use a sponge dabber or stencil brush and unload most of the paint on a paper towel and then tap lightly on the stencil. Bleeding happens when too much paint is used, or if you press down too hard. It’s better to use barely any paint and then go back and do another coat if needed.
  • Don’t stress if it’s not perfect! If you mess up, use a small angled paintbrush using the white paint for touch-ups.
  • Don’t skip the last step of spraying or painting a clear coat to protect your project, especially if placing the sign outside. Your work will last longer! I used this Rustoleum clear coat spray on mine.

painting a wood board white

taping stencil to wood sign

removing stencil after painting

stencilling hello on a fall sign

stenciling merry christmas to a sign

merry christmas porch sign with stencils


DIY Stenciled Reversible Fall and Christmas Sign

Print

Directions

1

Paint all sides of the wood board white using a brush or roller and let dry. It may need several light coats to look even.

2

Once dry, layout and tape or use repositionable adhesive spray on the stencils to attach them where desired.

3

Using a paper plate and paper towel, place a small amount of paint on it, and dip the sponge or brush in. Dab most of the paint off, and then use a light tapping motion using the paint over the stencil. Do multiple coats instead of using additional paint to avoid bleeding.

4

Let dry and then do the same on the reverse side using the other set of stencils.

5

Once both sides are dry, spray or paint with a clear topcoat.


woman holding a merry christmas porch sign

I love this seasonal DIY project so much and think you will too!

This would be a fun one to go in on with a friend and split the supplies and have a craft night. In the end, you’ll both have a fun porch sign to incorporate into your home’s decor. It’ll look great for both Fall and Christmas and will last for years.

hello fall and merry christmas sign using the cricut

You can also use a vinyl cutting machine to make this reversible porch sign idea!

A few years ago I made a similar sign using the same paint colors in reverse except I made my own adhesive vinyl stencils using my Cricut machine. The process is pretty similar, as you paint your board a solid color, apply the adhesive stencils, and then go back over it using a different color paint for the lettering.


Make these $1 spray painted fall dishes from Dollar Tree next!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 24

  1. Lori

    Perfect double-duty sign!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Thanks so much Lori!

  2. carol-4

    Cute! I get my stencils at Craftcuts.com- you can customize your stencil that way you can do personalized signs!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh nice! Thanks Carol!

    • jhaney1

      Super cute website! Thanks so much for sharing on this site!!!!!

  3. nita

    Beautifully done as always Lina! šŸ™‚

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh thanks so much!

  4. shop4mybabies

    love the double sided sign!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Yes! Thanks so much!

    • Irene (Hip Sidekick)

      Same, shop4mybabies! These are great and multi-functional!

  5. KC.Crafts

    You can also use Heat transfer vinyl & a regular hand held iron & iron the vinyl on as well. I do this because I’m too ADD & can’t wait for paint to dry.

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh interesting! Thanks for sharing that tip!

  6. Keesh

    This is beautiful

    • Irene (Hip Sidekick)

      Our Lina is pretty talented, isn’t she? šŸ˜‰

      • Keesh

        She sure is.. i get tones of great ideas from her. She’s awesome as well as you all are HIP2SAVE

  7. 77_purity

    Just a tip: ask if your local store sells cull wood; you may be lucky and find wood pieces that would work for your project for really cheap or in my case, the gentleman at HD said I could have it for free. I had the same dimensions as above, and asked them to cut it in half. I was super excited. I just purchased oops paint and stain. One of the halves, my husband cut a little shorter because there was slight damage on the end, but it’s still a good length. I stained and personalized it and plan to gift to friends who just moved to a new home. The other side, I created a reversible sign for my family where one side is personalized and the other has a welcome where I can change the wreath on the O depending on the season/holiday. I did some research and read of people trying to make stencils using contact paper purchased from the dollar tree, so I did that and used it for my project. If you search online, there are also FREE cut files for porch signs. I’m pretty happy with the results šŸ™‚

    • 77_purity

      i was going to send it in for a Friday post. I may still to show my final results šŸ™‚

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Oh nice- thanks for the great tips!

  8. Csandst1

    I think the first ā€œsā€ on the Christmas sign is upside down.

  9. Jacie

    Looks great Lina!
    Is that a blue tile on the wall? I love the design of it. Where is it from? Thanks.

  10. Gigi

    These are cute Hobby Lobby had reversible Christmas signs half off last week so instead of 24.99 they were $12.50!

    • Trish (Hip Sidekick)

      Thanks for sharing about the sale you spotted on these last week, Gigi! šŸ’ž

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