***Thanks to all of your requests, this sign is now available in our Etsy shop {here}.***
Despite careful forethought and planning, I have run out of Halloween candy three out of the last four years. (NO, it was not because I bought the candy prior to October 30th and ate it all–I would never do that!) The good news is that I ran out closer to the end of trick-or-treating than the beginning, but I figured I’d better A) buy more candy this year and B) come up with a contingency plan just in case. I decided to make a sign to hang on the door when the candy’s all gone–that way I won’t have to look the sad munchkins in the eye and tell them I’m a loser.
I copied the idea from my “We Can/Can’t Play” sign that I made this summer. You can read about it {here}–if you’re a mom whose doorbell rings frequently, this will change your life! You can thank me later…
We Can/ Can’t Play Door Sign–A Summer Necessity!
This was a cheap project because I already had what I needed. I assembled my materials: a wooden plaque/sign from the craft store ($0.80 full price, but I used a coupon!), orange and black ribbon, eye hooks, black paint, and glitter (just in case–I wound up not using it). Also used, but not shown was black paint, glue (duh), white vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo.
I sanded the rough spots on the sign (sometimes I skip that part) and painted it black with acrylic craft paint. Once it dried, I screwed the eye hook into the top–no drill needed, just use your fingers to screw it in–and printed out the frame and the letters on my Silhouette. I used the free font Boyz R Gross. Wait? You don’t have a vinyl cutter? Don’t despair! Paint your wooden sign with black chalkboard paint, and then just use a white chalk pen for all of this–they sell them at craft stores.
Here’s the white frame:
And now here’s the sign with the words in place:
I debated a bit on which ribbon to use, and finally just used orange and white striped ribbon (I think it was 2″). If you don’t know how to tie a perfect bow, check out my video tutorial {here}.
We’re not really into “scary” Halloween stuff here, so I debated on whether or not to glue a black plastic spider on the bow. Here it is without the spider:
And with the spider:
Do you have a preference? Let me know!
So this will go up when the candy’s gone at my house. Well, perhaps I will fib a bit and hang this up on my door around 8:30pm, when all the cute little Jedi knights and princesses go home to sort their candy and watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” That’s when the teenagers come around to ring the bell, wearing a costume consisting of sagging blue jeans and a sweatshirt (how creative!), holding an empty pillowcase, and managing to NOT SAY A WORD TO ME as they hold their open pillowcases under my nose, expecting that I will just dump candy in there. Can you tell that I think there should be an age cut-off for trick or treating? I already warned my 11-year-old son that this is his last year! So the sign will either go up at 8:30, or I will hand out tofu and spinach to the surly teens!
Or if I get into the candy stash, the sign might have to go out much earlier!
***This sign is now available in our Etsy shop {here}.***
Thanks for stopping by!
