Holiday Movie Night - An Evening With Ebenezer Scrooge - how to make holiday movie night extra special.

Farmhouse Tabletop Christmas Tree - made with recycled bifold door slats.

Easy Mini Cranberry Eggnog Loaves - perfect for gift giving.

Eggnog Crepes With Cranberry Grand Marnier Compote - a festive make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast idea.

Eggnog Crepes With Cranberry Grand Marnier Compote - a festive make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast idea.

Recycled Christmas Signs From Cabinet Door Panels

These are the panels I intercepted before heading to the trash. I was obviously so excited about their project potential that when I snapped the photo I cut off the top of the panels!

I recycled one door panel with a red and white plaid design.

And the other with a red and black buffalo check plaid design.

Which is your favorite?

Here's How I Made Them

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Make The Door Panels Pretty Again

The first thing I did was sand the rough edges smooth with a mouse sander and then I gave them both a fresh coat of white paint. After the paint dried overnight, I masked the edges around the raised panels with painters tape.

Both raised panels are stenciled with this awesome Buffalo Check Stencil from Funky Junk's Old Sign Stencils.

Buffalo Check Stencil

Stenciling The Door Panels

Are you a swirler, pouncer, or roller? I'm a pouncer and prefer using a soft round tip stencil brush.

Stenciling Tips

The best tip I can give for stenciling is less is more. You don't want a wet brush or you risk having the paint bleed under the stencil and then you'll have a hot mess on your hands. Dab the excess paint onto a paper towel first.

But with this particular stencil, the best tip I can provide is to stencil in the middle of the open squares when you first load fresh paint on your brush. Then move outwards toward the edges and onto the thin diagonal lines.

For the other raised panel I plan on stenciling black and red plaid. So the first thing I need to do is paint the door panel holiday red. The photo below is after just one coat and it took three to completely cover the white paint. 

Now I had the perfect base to stencil black buffalo checks with acrylic craft paint. I must admit that this is my favorite of the two and just might be a keeper.

Before moving onto the next steps, it's important that you protect the paint with an acrylic clear coat, especially if you plan on using these outdoors.

I found this large wood and burlap deer head ornament at Michaels that is perfect to use for the letter "O" in my Christmas JOY signs. I found the white 5-inch letters at Michaels as well.

I also found this sweet vintage holiday truck tin ornament at Walmart to use for the letter "O" on the other holiday JOY sign.

On the red and black plaid sign, I left the J and Y wood letters white for high contrast. But on the red and white plaid sign, I painted the letters and the deer head ornament holiday red for contrast. 

Next, I replaced the twine hangers on each ornament with a thin red and white checked ribbon that I had in my stash. After threading it through the holes I tied a knot at 3-inches. I turned the ribbon so the knot rests on the front of the hole in each ornament. We'll tie a small bow once they are glued to the signs.

I measured the raised panels to find the center and marked them with white chalk. Then I lined the ornaments up with the center marks and added a dab of E6000 glue to the bottom ONLY of each to hold them in place.

Next, I measured 3-inches from the top of each ornament and marked it with chalk. I drizzled E6000 glue on the back of the letter J and lined them up with the chalk marks. But first, I looped the top of the ribbon through the bottom of the J so it looks like the ornament is hanging from it.

I repeated the same measurements from the bottom of the ornaments for the letter Y. Once the glue was completely dry I tied small bows on the ribbons and trimmed the tails at an angle to prevent them from fraying.

I hope you were inspired by these DIY Recycled Christmas Sign ideas. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed these DIY Joy Christmas Signs, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your DIY Holiday Decor or DIY Christmas Sign Ideas board on Pinterest.

The Festive Christmas Ideas Event runs every Monday and Wednesday until November 19th so be sure to come back.

More Christmas Decoration Ideas