Save keeps your ticked steps. We email you a link, no password.
Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step from Craft n' Creations' video (opens YouTube) (10:42). Published .
A wooden door hanger is a painted wood round with a greeting on it, topped with a bow and a little greenery. It makes your front door look finished in every season. Jessica Burbano of Craft n' Creations walks through a walnut-stained round with black and white stripes, a stenciled Welcome and a buffalo check bow. It is a good first sign, and you can change the colors to suit your porch.
Pre-cut wood rounds come in sizes from about 12 to 24 inches. Fourteen to 18 inches suits most front doors. Look for one at least a half inch thick so it does not warp in the sun. Craft stores, Etsy and many hardware stores sell them already sanded. Give the edges a quick pass with fine sandpaper anyway so the stain goes on evenly.
A thick coat of walnut stain gives deep, even color in one go. Chalk paint dries fast and covers in two or three coats, which is handy for stripes. White usually needs a third coat to hide the wood grain. Let each coat dry before you pull the tape, or the edges can lift.
This sign uses a stencil cut from vinyl on a Cricut. You can also cut the word as regular adhesive vinyl and stick it straight on, which skips the painting. A stencil gives a painted look that lasts longer outdoors. If you do not have a cutting machine, a ready-made reusable stencil works too, and so does hand lettering with a paint pen.
A light round can hang from a small sawtooth hook on the back. For a heavier board, screw in a D ring and loop a ribbon through it to hang over a wreath hanger. If the door gets direct sun or rain, brush on a clear outdoor sealer once the paint has cured.
Want a matching bow? Learn how to make a bow for a wreath. Prefer greenery to a sign? Try a door wreath. New to cutting machines? Start with how to use a Cricut, then learn to cut SVG files for your own stencils.
Free printable
One page you can take to the table. Free with a free account, no password.
Free, for this project
How to make a wooden door hanger: stain a wood round, paint stripes, stencil a Welcome and add a bow and greenery for your front door. An easy project: about 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 4 hours to dry or set. Materials cost about $20 to $40. You need 17 things, including pre-cut wood round, walnut wood stain and black chalk paint. The 10 steps start with stain the Wooden Door Hanger Round With Walnut Stain.
10 steps, about 11 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Pick a pre-cut wood round for your door hanger. Put on gloves and apply a thick coat of walnut wood stain with a rag, rubbing it into the grain all over. Do the front, the back and the edge. Jessica tried a watery stain first and switched to a darker walnut for richer color. Let the round dry completely before you move on.
Lay a plastic drop cloth down first. Stain is hard to get off a table.
Before painting, lay your stencil and any decorations on the stained round to see how everything fits. Then use painters tape to divide the round into sections. Here the top and bottom edges will be black, two stripes will be white, and the middle stays stained for the word. Move the tape until the spacing looks right to you.
Use a ruler so the stripes come out the same width on both sides.
With the tape in place, paint the top and bottom edges of the round black. Chalk paint dries faster than regular acrylic and covers well. Give it two coats, letting the first dry before adding the second. Paint around the side edge too so the sign looks neat from every angle. Once it dries, peel the tape off slowly.
Paint away from the tape edge, not into it, to keep the line crisp.
Tape off the next section so the white stripes sit between the black edges and the stained middle. Brush on white chalk paint with a foam brush. White takes more coats to cover the dark stain. Jessica used about three so the wood did not show through. Let each coat dry before you add the next one.
Press the tape edges down firmly with a fingernail so paint cannot creep under.
When the white paint is dry, pull off all the tape. You should now have a black top and bottom, two white stripes and a stained wood band across the middle. Check the edges. If paint crept under the tape anywhere, you can touch it up with a small brush later. A little mistake is easy to fix at the end.
Pull the tape back at a low angle, folding it over itself, for clean edges.
Cut your Welcome stencil from vinyl on a cutting machine, or use a ready-made stencil. Pick it up with transfer tape, center it on the stained band, and smooth it down. Then slowly peel away the clear transfer tape, leaving the vinyl stencil stuck to the wood. Rub over every letter so the edges are sealed tight against the surface.
Prefer no painting? Cut the word in solid vinyl and stick it on instead.
Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge over the open letters of the stencil. This seals the stencil edges so the paint you add next cannot bleed underneath. Mod Podge dries clear, so any that lands on the wood will not show. Let it dry until it is no longer tacky before painting over it.
A thin coat is plenty. Thick Mod Podge can leave a ridge around the letters.
Load a little black paint onto a foam pouncer or a gloved fingertip and dab it straight down through the stencil. Dabbing pushes paint into the letters without sliding it under the edges. Cover every letter evenly. Let it dry, and add a second light coat if the wood grain still shows through the letters.
Blot most of the paint off on a paper towel first. Less paint means sharper letters.
While the last coat is still a little soft, start peeling the vinyl stencil away. Go slowly and pull at a low angle. The black Welcome lettering stays behind on the stained wood. Use a weeding tool to lift out small pieces from inside letters. Touch up any fuzzy spots with a fine brush or a paint pen.
If paint starts lifting with the vinyl, stop and let it dry a little longer.
Fix a small hook to the back for hanging. A light round only needs a sawtooth hook. Tie a bow from wired ribbon, or make your own with loops. Arrange faux eucalyptus along the top edge and attach it with staples or hot glue, then fix the bow in the center over the stems. Hang it on your front door.
For a heavy board outdoors, use a D ring and a ribbon over a wreath hanger.
Keep going
How to Make a Propagation Station With Test Tubes
More on this topic, picked for this wooden door hanger.
You reached the last step
Your ticked steps, the free printable and your other saved makes, together in My Projects. Free, no password.
Free printable
The bonus is hidden until you sign up.
Free with a free account, no password. Every step above stays open to everyone.
How to Make a Wooden Door Hanger (Stained Welcome Sign)
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links on this page may be affiliate links - clicking them and buying doesn't change your price, but helps support Crafting Step by Step.
The Crafter's Weekly
One short email with the week's best step-by-step guides. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Did this work for you?
Curated theme pages that include this tutorial.
Hand-picked next reads based on the one you just finished.
Crafts
14:23 video · 8 steps
Based on a video by Jenny’s Wreath Boutique
Crafts
15:58 video · 11 steps
Based on a video by Julie’s Wreath Boutique
Pick the crafts you want to hear about. One email every Sunday with new step-by-step tutorials. No spam, easy to unsubscribe.
Weekly digest. Pick the categories you want. Unsubscribe anytime.
Send me tutorials about
