Trick Or Treat Blocks

I finally decided to finish up the mantle. Though I love my little "family" sign, it kind of distracts from the overall theme. So I decided to make something else.

Originally, I was going to use the Happy Halloween Placard that I posted yesterday, but quickly realized that would look ridiculous since the banner also says "Happy Halloween". Duh.

I decided to go with "Trick or Treat" instead. 

I have always really liked little block formations for decoration. I just think they're cute. So when I realized that we had a bunch of extra 2x4's in the garage, I decided to enlist Collin in my plan.

He was nice enough to cut out blocks of varying lengths (to be then converted to heights). I had him do enough to complete my phrase, as well as a few extras for decoration.

I sanded the edges of each block so that fingers and paper wouldn't snag.

After that, I dug through my stash of Halloween paper and selected enough options to allow for a different pattern on each block plus one picture for each end block. The papers were cut to size for each corresponding block.

Based on the paper selected for a particular block, I painted the wood to match the dominant color, either orange or black.

Once the paint was dried, the pieces of paper were adhered to the blocks using ModPodge. I used a matte finish. I typically use glossy, but decided that it might detract from the Halloween feel if I made it too cutesy. I then ModPodged over the top of each paper to seal the edges.

I cut out letters for each block using my handy dandy Pazzle. I ran the letters through my Xyron (sticker maker) and stuck them to the correct blocks. Once again, ModPodge was used to coat the top of each piece and protect the edges.

After a little bit of drying time, the blocks were ready to assemble for display.

And now the mantle can be considered complete.

This post is part of a series. To read the corresponding posts, click here.