DIY Creepy Halloween Sign from recycled fencing

I enjoy making something from things that would normally make their way to the dump.  It’s like free stuff.  That’s why when hubs shortened our wood privacy fence last summer to give us a better view of the open fields and rising sun I latched on to a couple of the rickety pieces.  They sat outside all year weathering even more than they already had to make a perfect project for Halloween decorating. 

He cut the tops off leaving perfect little arrows still attached to the top rail of the fencing.  The little grands and I have used several of these ready made arrows for individual projects.  The little grands saw them as pointy hats and feet that just needed Snowmen and Santa bodies painted.  I saw one particular piece as a Haunted Halloween Sign board.

The only supplies I needed to transform the recycled fence pickets attached to the 6 foot cross bar were:

• hammer
• drop cloth
• spray paint
• craft paint
• paintbrush
• zip ties

First I used a hammer to remove some of the arrow shaped pickets.  The cross piece that normally supports the fence worked really well as my sign post – and it was already attached!

Next, I lay the sign post with the pieces left attached on a drop cloth.  I use an old plastic shower curtain as a drop cloth.  It’s a good size and heavy duty enough to stay put on the floor unlike those light weight ones you can purchase in hardware stores.  But you use whatever you have handy to protect the area where you paint.

I took several cans of spray paint in different colors and sprayed some random blotches on the arrow shaped boards.  I had white, green, and red but it doesn’t really matter what color you use as long as the words you will paint show up bold.

After the spray paint was dry I used a small paint brush to roughly scribble on some Halloween locations.  I also squeezed some paint straight from the container for some frightful lettering.  I wasn’t looking for neat or perfect.  Rather I was after spooky and creepy.

I allowed all the paint to dry thoroughly before standing the sign post up next to our chain link fence post.  Several long zip ties worked perfectly to hold the sign in place.  You could also use duct tape. I think it turned out pretty cool, if not creepy for a free project.  

What Halloween locations would you add?