I wait for it every year, as the summer days shorten and the kids hop back on the school bus. That first evening with a little chill in the air.  That first tree, tentatively trying out a few new colors on its leaves.

Autumn is my favorite season of the year. I love the mums and pumpkins that start to decorate neighbors’ doorsteps, warm apple crisps fresh from the oven.  And though I’ve lived in the Midwest my entire life, the colors that God paints across the trees still take my breath away!

So it’s no surprise to anyone, I’m sure, that I love to decorate for fall. I light a  “Harvest Spice” scented candle, pull out my fall decorations from storage to add warm, and delight in adding warm touches to my home.  My favorite is the garland of fall leaves that I drape across our mantel, reminding me that cozy evenings by the fire are coming soon.

This year,  I decided to craft a few new fall decor pieces: a sweet little farmhouse-style sign to spice up a drab wall in my entry. And I’m pleased as punch with how it turned out! I actually ended up with two signs. One with letters attached to twine by cute clothespins, and one that features a little metallic shine with typewriter letters hanging from a ribbon.

This was such a simple craft, friends. And my favorite part?   You can easily switch out the message whenever you want.  I’m going to welcome the season with “Hello Fall” in September/October, and then switch it out to “Give Thanks” when November comes around!

Want to make one of these charming farmhouse signs for yourself?  I’ve made it super simple for you, byputting together a free download with letters you can cut out and use to make your own sign.  You’ll find several options you can use to design the perfect sign for your personal taste:

• Tag-shaped letters in both black and white.
• Rounded letters in both black and white.

So if you like a black frame, but prefer  tag-shaped letters, go for it!  Or try some rounded black letters on a white background.  Whatever you choose, I hope you have fun connecting to your creativity and making something pretty for your home!

Here’s what you’ll need to get crafting:

Supplies:

FOR ALL SIGNS:

• picture frame (8 x 10, 8.5 x 11, or 9 x 12)
• background paper in cream, white, or kraft paper (*If your frame is 9 x 12, you will need a large, 12 x 12 sheet of paper. An 8.5 x 11 paper will work fine for smaller frames.)
• ribbon or twine
• tape
• scissors
• Downloaded and printed letters (see blue box below)

FOR CLOTHESPIN STYLE SIGNS:

• small clothespins and twine

FOR ROUNDED “METALLIC” LETTER STYLE SIGNS: 

• silver metallic paper
• small gauge wire

(Downloads are only available to More Like Grace subscribers: With downloading, you’ll be opting in to our email newsletter with more encouragement and freebie news. Unsubscribe any time.)

How To Make:

Step 1: Remove the glass and backing from your picture frame.  You can toss the glass, or save it for a future project. (I just dropped a picture frame last week and the glass shattered to pieces.  Ya never know when a little picture glass might come in handy!)

Step 2: Cut out the letters from your printed sheet of paper. (See download button above to grab your printable letters for this craft.)

Step 3: This step is only for circular letters with the metallic paper around the edges:  Use a 1.5″ paper punch or a scissors to cut circles from the silver metallic paper.  (Tip: I traced my circles using the top of a spice jar. It was just the right size to fit around my letters!) Then use a glue stick to adhere your letters to the metallic paper.  You can use the letters with either black or white background–the metallic paper looks great behind either one!

Step 4: This step is only for letters you want to hang with wire (Skip if you are using clothespins for your design): Cut the wire to about 3″ lengths.  Loop each wire around your finger and then twist the ends together as shown in the picture below.  Tape these loops to the back of your paper letters, with the twisted side down. (see picture below)

Step 4: Lay the backing of your picture frame on top of your background paper. (Use either brown kraft paper or white/ivory paper, depending on your design.)  Using a scissors, cut backing paper down to right size.

Step 5: Spread glue on back of background paper and glue to the FRONT side of the backing to your picture frame.

(IMPORTANT TIP:  Check to make sure none of the paper overlaps the edges of your backing at this point.  If it does, trim the paper to the edge. Check to make sure your backing still fits inside your picture frame. And yes, I did make the mistake of missing this step! And yes, I did have to go back and undo half my work to fix it!)

Step 6: Cut two lengths of twine or ribbon. They should be as long as your backing, with about 3″ extra on either side.

Step 7:  Tape the edges of your twine/ribbon to the back of your picture frame as pictured below.  Leave a little slack in each ribbon/twine, so the letters will hang in a gentle arc on the front side.  Adjust if needed.

*NOTE:  If you are using metal wire to hang your letters, you will want to string your letters onto the twine/ribbon before you attach both sides of your ribbon. (like second picture below)

Step 8:  If you are using clothespins, clip each letter onto the twine/ribbon on the front side of your sign.

Step 9:  Put your backing into the frame. Make final adjustments so your letters hand with even spaces between then.  *After final adjustments, I added extra tape on the back side to make sure my ribbon/twine would stay in place.

And after that, you are all done!  And if you used the clothespin method, you can easily switch out the message   whenever you want: Try “Hello Fall” for September/October, and “Give Thanks” for November! (You could switch out the metal/wire letters too, it would just require a bit of extra work because they are strung around the ribbon.)