DIY Metal and Wood Christmas Sign

Fact:  We’ve already watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 6 times this month. I know. It’s completely premature. I think our “Livie Bug” has caught the bug. But in her defense, she gets it honest. Robert and I get all giddy and giggly when the Christmas decor starts popping up in our town.

Since we’re hosting a big family Thanksgiving this week, we got a jump start on the Christmas decorating. And in the midst of pulling out the bajillions of tangled strands of twinkle lights, I decided to get crafty…again.

I got the idea to do a Christmas version of my DIY Pumpkin Patch Sign that I made for fall. But this time, I wanted a little industrial fun in the mix with some metal letters.

If you feel like getting crafty too and want to make this DIY metal and wood Christmas sign for yourself, here’s what I used: (Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more information, see my full disclosure here.)

• 3 – 1x4x8 pine furring strips
• 1 – 1x2x8 pine furring strip
• Circular saw (or whatever saw you prefer)
• Wood glue
• 1 1/4″ wood screws or nails
• Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner (optional but recommended)
• Rustoleum Weathered Gray Wood Stain
• Sponge brush and clean rag
• Metal and wood letters (I found mine for $15 each at Hobby Lobby or you can get this N, E, and L that are similar.)
• 1 – 12 to 15″ wreath  (This one is similar to the one I already had.)

To construct the sign, I cut my 1x4x8 furring strips into thirds with the circular saw at 32″ long. I used 7 of the cut furring strips to make my sign 32″x24″ since those measurements would work best on top of our media cabinet.

I layed all 7 of the 1×4 furring strips face-down beside each other. Then, I made two cuts from my 1×2 furring strip at 24″ for the width of my sign.

I used some wood glue for extra security on the back of the 1×2 strips.

Then I nailed them across the back of the 1x4s.

Whenever I stain a project, I like to use a wood conditioner first to keep the stain from being splotchy. I just followed the directions on the back of the can- basically, swipe it on, wipe it off after a minute, let dry, and you’re good to go.

Then, I used my FAVORITE wood stain (besides the homemade kind that is).

Once the stain was dry, I just put a few nails in place to hang my letters. Since these are meant to hang on a wall, they already had the hangers built into the backs. I got mine for 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Woot woot!

I added one more nail to hang a wreath I already had, and it was done!

It’s really simple, but I love how it turned out.

Since I already had the wreath and wood stain, the entire thing cost about $55. That’s still not exactly cheap in my book, but if I’d bought it already made somewhere, it would have cost way more, I’m sure.

And sometimes when I get an idea that I’m excited to try out, I just can’t help myself.

I can’t wait to show off all of the Christmasy goodness with a few other secret projects happening behind-the-scenes right now. You’ll be seeing lots of it starting next week.

But first…turkey. If I’m being completely honest though, the dessert spread is what I’m most excited about, aren’t you?

What do you think? Are you loving this cute industrialish sign as much as I am? Have you started on the Christmas decor at your house? If not, congratulations, you’re sane, unlike the three of us currently wrapped up in our rogue light strands all over the place.

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