Looking for a fun and creative DIY project? We are happy to present decoratively painted wood blocks for Halloween! This project is quick, kid-friendly, and can easily be completed in an afternoon.
Don’t have extra redwood pieces laying around? Head to your local The Home Depot store and have them cut your lumber for you!
For materials, you will need:
- Paint cloth for project area
- Redwood scrap pieces – various sizes will make the completed project extra fun
- Craft paint brushes (we used foam and regular ones)
- Craft (acrylic) paint: purple, black, white, orange, and green. Feel free to add more colors!
- Wood glue
- Puff paint (optional)
- Stencils (optional)
- Sandpaper – 80 grit to smooth down your pieces and reduce splinters
Directions:
Begin by sanding down the redwood. This will reduce splinters while handling and create a smooth painting surface for your designs. Start with your 80 grit sandpaper, smoothing out the rough edges and corners, paying special attention to rough areas of the wood. Then finish with 120 grit sandpaper for a nice smooth and even surface.
Using a damp towel, remove all dust from the redwood pieces. Allow to fully dry before painting.
Use a foam brush to paint the larger portions of color: feel free to use 1-2n even coats of paint for a nice even coat or use one coat of paint and lightly sand once dry for a more weathered look. Allow paint to dry in between coats.
Either lightly sketch out your designs in pencil before applying your faces,n or, for a quirkier look, paint your characters freehand!
Use the wood glue to attach the pieces together. Let dry.
We chose to paint most of the redwood pieces freehand. For the “Happy” in the Happy Halloween, we used a stencil, and traced the “Halloween” portion from simply printing out the word and outlining it into the wood.
We found inspiration for the Halloween faces and characters on Pinterest. Just browsing through the site gave us plenty ideas! For the characters we chose silly ghosts, confused Frankensteins, goofy vampires, and some very surprised pumpkins. Everyone was thrilled with the results!
Be sure to share your completed project with us, and tag Mendocino Redwoodn when you post! Or email us at Marketing [at] Mendoco [dot] com to share your creations and we may feature it on our social media! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Looking for more redwood project inspiration? Check out our Boards &n Bottle collaboration and learn how to make your very own Measuring Board.
