Easy Thrifty Halloween Sign

I was determined to find another project at the thrift store the other day.

Why? I have no idea since I have a box full of things waiting to be repurposed.

My Halloween decorations had not found there way out of the box yet since I was still enjoying the arrival of fall!

So as I shopped at the Goodwill inspiration arrived….

Here is how to make a cute inexpensive Halloween sign.

(Please excuse the nails if the wall, to eager!)

Do you know what it is was in a prior life?

Yep, a plastic placemat. And 0.49 cents at that.

Then I set out looking for a frame.

Can you believe that someone got rid of this needlework?

I hope you heard the sarcasm!

I splurged more than I usually do on a thrift store frame and bought this one for $5, because it was a perfect fit (top to bottom, that is).

I have never done a tutorial and this is real basic probably missing some steps in the pictures, but here is what I did.

• Take the frame apart.

By the way, genealogy is another love of mine and I find old family pictures, bibles, and such very interesting.

So as I flipped this picture over, it told a story.

Apparently Eva Wilkins from Pittsburg, PA visited Colorado in 1973 and bought this for Ernie and Rosemary Vetter. I suppose this is the story as I found it in a Colorado Goodwill here locally and it was made by the artist in Boulder, Colorado.

Anywho! On to the transformation.

• Spray paint the frame.

These are some wonderful things that help with all my thrift store finds in realizing there full re-purposed potential.

• Clean the glass and placemat.

(who knows where they have been, ewwww!)

• Then cut placemat to fit.

I minimized my cutting by finding a frame that fit the placemat top to bottom, so I only have to cut an inch off of each side.

• Then put everything back together.

I didn’t put a back under the placemat because it changed the white letters and made them darker. I preferred the leaving it so that it could be more translucent if I ever wanted to hang in front of light source or window.

• To secure in frame, use a small nail on each side of the frame.

I nailed my mine right against the placemat on the inside of the frame you could also use nails and bend them over to secure it.

• Hot glue one strand of ribbon on the two top back corners of the frame.

• Tie sweet little bow.

Now this is temporary decor and up out the way of little hands so the picture is hung by a a wire that came on the back of the frame. It does not hang from the ribbon! There is a tiny nail for the ribbon to rest on and hey, the bow isn’t even attached it just rest on the nail :)

Super easy!

If you want to see other great creations from talented people check out the places I party:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Power of Paint at Domestically-Speaking

Twice Owned Tuesday at Creating a House of Grace