When it comes to Christmas decorations for your yard, we say GO BIG with a giant greeting card. With a few tools, some plywood and exterior paint you’ll be ready to show your holiday spirit.
Follow along with our step-by-step tutorial to learn how to it make your yard the neighborhood’s main attraction this season.
How to Build the Giant Greeting Card
Materials Needed
- 2 – pieces of 4-ft. x 8-ft. x ¾-in. plywood
- 1 – piece of 1-in. x 3-in. x 8-ft. select pine
- Clamps
- Safety glasses
- Ear plugs
- Work gloves
- Circular saw (You can rent a circular saw from The Home Depot.)
- Paint roller
- Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Ultra Pure White
- Sharpie marker
- 1 – piece of ½-in. plywood
- Jig saw (You can rent a jig saw from The Home Depot.)
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Fine artist’s brush
- Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Hills of Ireland Green and Dark Crimson Red
- Paint brush
- Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Gingko Green
- Finish nailer (You can rent a finish nailer from The Home Depot.)
- 1½-in. Finishing nails
- 2 – 6-in. galvanized strap hinges
- Drill (You can rent a drill from The Home Depot.)
- Drill bits
- Microfiber cloth
- Rubber gloves
- Carpenters square
- Drop cloth
Step 1: Measure, Mark & Cut Wood for Card
Using a circular saw, cut two pieces of ¾-in. plywood to 7-ft. x 4-ft. This will be the front and inside page of the card. Next, using 1-in. x 3-in. select pine, cut out 4 pieces, at 48 inches long and 4 pieces, at 85½ inches long. These pieces will frame out each page of the card.
NOTE: When cutting wood, always clamp it down to a stable work surface. Wear safety glasses, ear plugs and work gloves as your tools require.
Step 2: Paint the Plywood
Next, roll on Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Ultra Pure White. Paint both pieces of plywood, front and back, then allow them to dry.
Dry time varies depending on the environment.
Step 3: Draw & Cut Out Reindeer
Using a Sharpie marker, freehand a reindeer onto ½-in. plywood, then cut out along the line using a jig saw.
Step 4: Trace Letters onto Plywood
Print out letters or use stencils for the lettering on your card. We printed out large scale letters, then cut them out. Once the overall design was tweaked and finalized, we traced around the outline of each letter with pencil.
Step 5: Paint Letters
Using a fine artist’s brush and Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Hills of Ireland green and Dark Crimson red, fill in the letters.
Step 6: Paint Reindeer and Trim Pieces Red
Using Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Dark Crimson Red, along with an angled paint brush, paint the reindeer you cut out in Step 3 and all eight pieces of 1-in. x 3-in. trim you cut out in Step 1.
Allow this to dry.
Step 7: Paint Snowflakes and Trees Green
Using Behr Premium Plus EXTERIOR paint in Gingko Green, paint snowflakes and trees onto the plywood.
Step 8: Add Red Trim to the Card’s Edges
Using the red 1-in. x 3-in. trim you cut in Step 1, frame out the two pieces of plywood to give them a more finished look.
Attach the pieces using a finish nailer and some 1½-in. finishing nails.
Step 9: Attach Reindeer
Using the finish nailer, attach the reindeer to the plywood.
Step 10: Add Hinges
With the plywood lying flat, use your drill to attach one side of each strap hinge to the “inside” of the giant greeting card, and use touch-up paint so that hinge is camouflaged.
Next, stand the boards in position and attach the other side of hinge to the back of card “cover.”
Now, just give the giant greeting card a place in your yard. It’s bound to a favorite Christmas yard decoration.
Check out more DIY projects here on The Home Depot Blog. Follow our DIY Projects board on Pinterest for more DIY tutorials and ideas.
Visit our Holiday Decor Department for everything you need to decorate for Christmas.
The post Giant Greeting Card Yard Decoration for Christmas appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.
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