It is that time of year! The festivities of autumn and Halloween are already beginning. If you are a fan of this holiday, you will want to add some decor to your home. Here are some instructions on how to make a fun wall hanging for your front door.

Materials You Will Need

• A piece of wood from a hardware store, such as Koontz Hardware, in whatever thickness you desire
• A jigsaw for cutting the wood into a Halloween shape
• Sandpaper
• A self-adhesive hook
• Paints in all colors
• Polyurethane
• Orange pom poms
• Bits of felt
• Google eyes
• Some autumn leaves
• White Yarn
• A large eyed needle
• Glue
• Scissors
• An old white sheet
• A black marker

Preparing The Wood Plaque

You will first want to prepare the surface of your plaque for decorating. If you are going to cut your wood into a specific shape, draw the outline on the wood with a pencil and cut it with your jigsaw. Take a piece of sandpaper and sand the surface of your wood until it is smooth and without any rough patches. 

Painting Your Plaque

Paint a background scene on your wood. You can do this as simply as painting a completely black surface or you could paint trees or a graveyard scene. Use small paintbrushes for intricate areas. Dry thoroughly and add a coat of polyurethane to make the plaque glossy. Make sure this layer is completely dry before attempting to add any decorations.

Adorning With Accessories

Now that your plaque is painted, you can add accessories to personalize your plaque. Take some orange pom poms and glue them directly to the plaque. Add bits of felt cut into triangular shapes to use for pumpkins eyes, nose and mouth. Use a green piece for a stem. Add wiggle eyes on the pom poms to give your jack o'lanterns a spooky and quirky look. Glue the colored fall leaves around the bottom of your plaque.

Adding Dangling Ghosts

To make ghosts, first screw in the hooks to the bottom of your wood piece. The ghosts will hang from the hooks. Cut up an old white sheet into small squares. Sew a loop into the middle of each square using white yarn. Use these yarn loops to hook onto your wood plaque. You can make longer loops to have ghosts that hang down lower. Add three or four of these and stagger the lengths. Draw eyes, eyebrows and mouths onto the ghosts to give it a creepy look! Add a self-adhesive hook to the back of your plaque and hang where desired. Happy Halloween!