DIY buffalo plaid reindeer pallet sign

If you look around at farmhouse décor, you’ll see a lot of wood items. Most stuff is made with reclaimed or antiqued wood. Sometimes if you look at the price, are you surprised? Yeah, me too! In this post I am going to show you how to make your own reindeer pallet sign. Then you too, can use the reclaimed wood farmhouse décor, without paying the price! Follow these 3 simple steps and you’re well on your way to having your own DIY reindeer pallet sign.

Let’s get started. Here’s what you’re gonna need.

Supplies:

Reclaimed wood/pallet sign or visit this post to learn how to make your own DIY reclaimed pallet wood sign
~1/2 yard of fabric of your choice
Reindeer pattern
fabric scissors or really sharp scissors
pencil, pen, or sharpie
Mod Podge
Sponge paint brush
short nails
hammer
embellishments (Christmas lights buttons or rusty bells or jingle bells)
wire & wire cutters (optional)

Step 1: Trace your reindeer pattern on your fabric

I love working with fabric, but I hate the creases! You will want to make sure to iron your fabric to get all the wrinkles and creases out. When you have your fabric pressed, you want to pay attention to the pattern or print and make sure you know the direction you want your to go on your reindeer. Lay your fabric out flat on your work surface. Place your pattern on top and make sure you like where it is.

Now you want to turn your fabric over so the print is towards your work surface and the back side of the fabric is facing up. You also are going to flip your pattern so the front is facing down and the back side is facing up (you might not care about this part, but I wanted my antlers to be a certain way on my finished sign).

Once you have your fabric laid out flat with your pattern carefully placed on top, begin tracing your patter onto your fabric using your writing tool of choice (I used a sharpie because I was worried a pen or pencil wouldn’t be dark enough for me to see). After your pattern is traced, use your fabric scissors to cut it out.

Step 2: Apply your fabric reindeer to your pallet wood sign

Now that you have your reindeer pattern cut out, lay it out on your pallet sign. Decide the placement you want. When you have it where you want it, you are going to glue it into place using the sponge brush and Mod Podge.

Start by lifting up the bottom part of the reindeer pattern and put a generous amount of Mod Podge on the fabric and then press down onto the pallet sign. Now pull the rest of the top of the pattern (not what you just glued) down and apply Mod Podge on the fabric. I worked in 2″ sections. Apply the Mod Podge and then press firmly onto the wood. I repeated these steps until I got the entire pattern glued into place. Make sure you go around and double check the edges and secure down any pieces/parts that might not be glued down all the way.

**NOTE** you want to be careful not to get Mod Podge on other parts of the wood besides where the fabric is other wise it will show and be a different shade than the original wood.

Let this dry for about 15 minutes. (I always like to clean up my mess during the drying process)

If you look at the red and black buffalo plaid reindeer pallet sign photo, you can see I cut the fabric at the seams of the wood. You can do this if you choose. I did it on this one, but not on the others. It’s totally optional.

Step 3: Attaching your embellishments to your reindeer pallet sign

When your fabric reindeer is glued into place and dried, lay out the placement of your embellishments. Decide how many you want and where you want them. Make note of where they are. I like to do this by taking a picture or marking with a light pencil mark.

Remove your embellishments so they don’t bounce off when you are hammering the nails into place. Begin hammering your nails into each place you are going to put your embellishments. Don’t hit the nail in all the way. You want to leave some out so you still have something to attach your embellishment to.

Once you have all your nails in place, begin attaching your embellishments. The Christmas lights buttons were super easy, they have a little rubber loop on the the end that you can just thread over the head of the nail. The bells also have a little loop at the top of them that you can just fit over the head of the nail. If you don’t feel like the bells will stay on, you can always secure them into place with some wire and just curl the left over ends of the wire. I have used all 3 of these different ways to attach my embellishments.

Following these 3 easy steps will walk you through how to make your own reindeer pallet sign without breaking the bank! And everyone will love what you have made!

Let’s create this together! -Brandee