DIY Thanksgiving Sign Makes for a Merry Feast

Use the provided printables to make this festive DIY Thanksgiving sign – welcome your guest in style or use it for pretty mantel decor.

I really do love Thanksgiving. Kind of the perfect holiday to me and I have so many great memories associated with the big dinner (and the prep for it).

I wanted to come up with a project that reflected that and when my friend Geralyn found the perfect Shakespeare quote it all came together.

“Small Cheer and Great Welcome Make a Merry Feast.” Isn’t that just spot on? It’s from The Comedy of Errors and, to me that perfectly sums up my favorite holiday.

So I got to work and designed the background and text and then applied it to some scrap lumber to create a cool DIY Thanksgiving sign! Here’s what I did.

Merry Feast Thanksgiving Sign

For this project I used:

• Scrap ½” plywood cut to 10.5” long by 3” high panels
• Two scrap pieces of wood for connecting the panels – cut to 11.5” long
• 8 screws
• Matte Mod Podge
• Wood Stain
• A print out of the text – you can download here and here

I used some tools as well that are very helpful but also optional:

• Drill (and appropriate drill bits)
• Sandpaper
• Two new (to me) applicators from the makers of Mod Podge:
  • Brush Applicator
  • Rolling Applicator

To get started, I stained the edges of the wood panels and just a little bit of the front side. After the stain had dried I sanded them lightly.

Next up I applied the Mod Podge using the Rolling Applicator. This was a new tool for me, and I must say it worked really well. It made application smooth and easy to control (and cleaning it up was easy too).

Next I laid (lay?) down the graphics on my Thanksgiving sign, smoothing out the air bubbles as I went.

After giving it a bit of time to dry I gave the edges of the paper a light sanding just to give it a bit of character (this step is totally optional).

Next I flipped all the panels over, lined them up and screwed on the scrap wood connectors.

(Tip: make sure the panels are in the right order or you’ll have to take the whole Thanksgiving sign apart and try again. Don’t ask me how I know this . . . )

I wanted to seal the front and for that I used the Brush Applicator which worked like a dream for laying the Mod Podge over a large surface smoothly and cleanly. I think it may be a new favorite of mine.

And I was done.

Now all I need is some turkey! . . . and someone to cook it.

Your DIY Thanksgiving sign is complete. Happy holidays! Some notes in this project:

• If you want to do your own thing, the backgrounds alone without the text are here and here.
• If you don’t want to use a drill and screws a hot glue gun will work just fine.

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If you’re interested in some additional Thanksgiving decor projects, I’d like for you to check out the following posts:

• Thanksgiving Napkin Rings
• Falling Leaves Frame
• Rustic Thanksgiving Sign
• Crackle Pumpkin Decor
• Chalkboard Place Card Holders