Repurposed Wood Shutters Sign for Thanksgiving

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We’ve lived in our current home for two years and for the past two autumns I’ve been looking for a Thanksgiving decoration for my front porch. I hadn’t found anything substantial enough for the scale of our porch. When I found these shutters on Freecycle, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them – make a repurposed wood shutters sign for Thanksgiving. 

These shutters are actually saloon style swinging doors, but you could use shutters or doors, too. If you keep an eye on Freecycle, recycling Facebook groups or thrift stores, you can find shutters for free or just dollars. The scale of the shutters make them perfect for making a sign for a large area, and they can easily be stored in a basement or attic the rest of the year.  

DIY Thanksgiving Sign

I found this gorgeous chalk paint for about $5, so this entire project cost me just $5!

I painted two coats of paint on the shutters. The rustic look of chalk paint compliments the rustic look of the shutters. I didn’t worry about distressing them, but you could if you wanted to. 

Easy Lettering How To

Next I measured the sign and did some math to determine the height of the letters (don’t forget to plan for space between the letters).  I simply found a font that I liked in Word and printed the letters out. 

I chose a font style that is substantial enough to make an impact from a distance.

I flipped the printed letters over and shaded the outline of each letter with a pencil. You can see more about this technique on my DIY Pool Storage project. 

Next, I laid the letters out on the sign. Be sure to step back from the sign and check your spelling (ask me how I know). I held each letter in place and traced over the outline of the letter so that it transferred onto the shutter.

The resulting outline of the letters made it easy then to paint in my message. 

I found that outlining each letter with a paint pen gives it a sharper appearance. 

I’m so pleased with the way the shutters sign turned out. The signs make a big impact and share a wonderful message for the Thanksgiving season. They’re a more sophisticated decoration than last month’s Halloween decorations and I’m enjoying the contrast.

Dual Purpose Idea

I couldn’t leave one side of these signs blank – what a waste that would be. So I chose to paint the other side to use as a Halloween sign since the orange color works well for both holidays.

You could choose to paint the other side an entirely different color. I’d just paint the edges a third complimentary color, like black or white, to break up the two sign colors if they’re not complementary to each other.

Be on the lookout for wood shutters so that you can make your own repurposed wood shutters sign for Thanksgiving. 

More Thanksgiving Ideas

You can find all our best Thanksgiving ideas in the table below. You can scroll though the table and look for ideas or search for specific ideas with the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner (on desktop). Click on the topic and then click through the specific article.