DIY Halloween Spooky Lantern Sign Post

Are you ready for Halloween yet? We’ve started getting the decorations out & everything set up. As a Lowe’s Cre­ative Ideas blog­ger, the October chal­lenge was all about DIY Halloween decór! After the fun we had last year with the giant yard spider, we decided to do another yard project – this time, a spooky lantern sign post!  I love the way it turned out! Such a fun way to add some Halloween decór to our front yard. I chose the “Something wicked this way comes” quote from Macbeth to put on our spooky signs. It works great for a directional sign post and is such a perfect Halloween quote! But, I love the addition of the lantern to make it look a little more like a lamp post too! Here’s how we made the sign:

Supplies:

• wooden post (2″ x 2″ x 6′)
• thin wood boards
• orange & black duct tape
• bicycle/garage hook
• white & black spray paint
• vinyl letters (or stencil)
• sand papaer
• two nails
• Jigsaw or Sonicrafter
• hanging candle-holder lantern
• LED candle
• spider webbing

Every single item pictured came from Lowe’s except the bird on top (that was in my Halloween decoration stash). After picking up our supplies, we got to right to work – starting with the post! I wanted stripes and we decided that colored duct tape would be SO much easier than messing with paint. So, to make stripes on our wooden post, all we did was wrap it in duct tape. A little time consuming, but SUPER easy (and something that can be done inside while you’re watching tv 😉 ). Next up, the directional signs…With the right power tool, making the signs was also really easy. Just roughly sketch out your arrow lines and whatever jagged line pattern you’d like for your edges. Then cut. Once cut, then spray paint the signs white and let dry. I cut the letters out of vinyl using an electronic cutter.  You could use stickers, precuts, or alternately use stencil & paint. Once the white paint is dry, put the vinyl letters on where you want them and spray with black. Let dry & slowly peel back the letters to reveal your white words! While those dry, you can prep your lantern & hook. The hook is just a large hook for the garage. Ours came gray so we wrapped it in black duct tape. I found the lantern on clearance (yay!) and used simple spider webbing inside & outside it to create a spookier look. Once everything is dry, then you can sand the wooden boards for a distressed look. Sanding will take some of the shine off and give it an older, rougher look. The last step is to attach it all to the striped wooden post. We attached the directional signs just slightly off-kilter with a single nail each. Then, we screwed in the hook. That’s it! Then, decide where you want it & add any other Halloween decór to set the scene! We used an urn & light-up pumpkin that we also purhcased from Lowe’s for a little extra fun. Then, the raven for the top just seemed perfect! I bought that a couple year’s ago from a craft store. I love the way it all came together! Such a fun addition to our front yard.  For more Halloween decor ideas, you might want to check out these posts:

DIY Giant Yard Spider

DIY Spider Wreath

DIY Spooky Tree

How do YOU decorate for Halloween? 

And, for even more DIY ideas, visit Lowes Cre­ative Ideas and fol­low along with Lowe’s on Pin­ter­est or on Insta­gram! You can sign up to receive their free Cre­ative Ideas Mag­azine, which is full of all kinds of ideas & inspi­ra­tion! There’s also a mag­a­zine app so you can have inspi­ra­tion on the go! And, this spring you can get weekly projects, tips & special values with the new “Improve with Lowe’s” app.