Richard Felt: Rustic Fall Wood Slice Banner

Fall is in the air! Or so they say… This is Corey from Sawdust 2 Stitches, and I live in the sunny state of Florida! Which I really do like living here, it is a great place to live, and being 5 miles from a beach ain’t too shabby! The only problem? I grew up an Ohio girl and spent most of my life in states where we have ALL four seasons. I miss the crisp air, and the changing colors…. Well there is not a whole lot I can do to change the outdoor climate, but inside ? Inside, I try my darndest to recreate that feel. (My body doesn’t know what to think when we walk out the door to go to the pool.) Ha.

Regardless, here is one of my favorite new fall decorations. I am really digging the idea of decorating with natural elements. Here is what I came up with for some front entry lovin’.

How to Make a Printed Wood Slice Banner

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Supplies Used:

Wood Slices (like these)
Transfer Paper (sometimes also called tracing paper or carbon paper, like this)
Pencil
Jute String

Tools Suggested:

Wood Burner – available at a local craft or hardware store, or here on Amazon
Computer Printer
Drill and 1/4″ bit

Recently, I decided our front tree needed to go… It was ugly, it was killing the lawn, and it basically covered our entire home. So down it came, but I definitely wanted to re-use some of the raw material! I made a TON of these wood slices. They were perfect for all sorts of rustic crafts! (Warning: they can split if they dry too quickly. I have been told that if you stick them in a doubled up brown paper bags, and daily take them out to air it will prevent them from drying too quickly.)

If you don’t have a tree would you like to cut down, then there are some alternatives; I have seen them at quite a few craft stores in the wood crafting sections and there are a variety of options on Amazon. Feel free to freehand a design on the slices. If you feel like you are a little less artistically inclined, or are simply a perfectionist, then I would suggest utilizing transfer paper! Simply print off the appropriate letters from your computer. In this case “F-A-L-L”.

Then simply transfer it using the magical transfer paper! It is really simple, if you get confused just follow the instructions on the packaging. Now you are ready! Ok, deep breath, this is just like painting, except it will burn the crap out of you if you grab the wrong spot. (Basically the same thing, right ?) Anyways, wood burners are not that expensive, I have seen them starting at $10 and up.

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form consider myself a pro. I DID start watching a tutorial on YouTube, but then got distracted and took the “wing it” approach. This is probably my 4th attempt using the wood burner, but I recorded it, because I want you to see how simple it is. Incorrect technique? Probably, but was simple none-the-less.

Have a fear of hot, pointy objects? Well, there is no shame in taking a sharpie to this sucker. Seriously, unless you are looking closely, it will be hard to spot the difference (shhh… if you don’t tell, I won’t.)

Moving on. Let’s get this sucker up on the wall! For this next step you will need to enlist a drill and a 1/4″ drill bit. When drilling the holes for the string, remember to keep the holes towards the top of the wood slice. It will prevent it from hanging all wonky, and flipping over.

Next step is fairly self explanatory. Just string em’ together! I chose to have my jute string across the back, but if you’d like,

string it across the front it will give it a “stitched together” look. The spacing on the letters is completely up to you. I found that the jute was coarse enough that I did not need to reinforce the wood slices to prevent them from moving. BUT, if you would rather them NOT MOVE, put a quick dab of hot glue on the wood so that is holds the jute in place.