I live in a very small town and every year our town has a Christmas light competition.  Lots of houses in town decorate their garden and houses and some do it to raise money for charities. My sister takes part in these competitions and this year she wanted me to make her a large “Santa stop here” Christmas sign.   

All the ones in the stores where small and she wanted a very big one, so ask me to have a go at making one for her.  Making all my own Christmas decorations for me is part of our Christmas tradition.  I like to try and make something new and unique each year. 

Last year it was this Cute Christmas tree shelf for homes where space is an issue. It can be put on a table or hung on a wall. And this year I got adventurous with my woodworking and built a large corner Christmas tree shelf which has been a big hit.

How to make a Santa Stop Here Christmas Sign Post

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Like all my other projects I like to try and make them from recycled materials. The PVC pipe and plywood used in these projects was leftover on a building site. The PVC pipe was very dirty and covered in concrete but most of it washed off with some scrubbing.  The pipe also had some numbers on which I removed using thinners on a rag and it just rubbed off.  Acetone also works well if you don’t have thinners or even the non-acetone free nail polish remover.

To get the candy cane look, use thick masking tape and started at the top and turning the pipe add tape to the bottom.

Using red spray paint add 2 coats of the red to the PVC pipe.

To make it easy to spray the surface and to prevent it from falling over. You can put some spikes in the ground for the PVC pipe to fit over while drying. This worked very well. Once dry, remove the tape to reveal your striped pole.

I had no idea on how to make the sign, just that it was a stop sign.  So I googled how to draw a stop sign and this image came up and it was so simple to follow. This is not my image

How to make a stop sign

The plywood I started with was 60cm square.  Not trusting everything you read on the internet I decided to cut a template first using kraft paper.  Lay the template on the plywood and traced the outline onto the wood.

Using a jigsaw cut out the plywood.   I gave the wood the once over with a random orbital sander and 180grit sanding discs to smooth out the surface. You can make the smaller signs using scrap wood and cutting them out freehand using a jigsaw.

Painting the Christmas signs

Add a white primer first, I have had an issue with the paint not stick not sticking well in the past. The white primer will also serve as the white background. Once the primer is dry, add masking tape to the edges and paint the inside crimson red.  Remove the tape when dry to reveal your cute stop sign.

Adding the words to your Santa stop here Christmas sign

Because I was not blessed with pretty handwriting, I used pizap to make the words. The words were printed out on A4 paper, then transferred to the wood using carbon paper. Place the carbon paper between the paper and the wood the sign and trace around the outline of the words with a pen.  

The words were then painted with cheap acrylic paints and fine makeup brushes which worked better than and small paintbrushes I tried. 

Making the Christmas sign ball

I felt the finished signpost was missing something at the top, it looked to plain.   I went from shop to shop trying to find something for the top but nothing jumped out at me. My niece’s ball has been laying in my shed for years now and it was starting to look good right about now. I cut a cross into the ball, but straight away the ball collapsed.  To get the ball back to a round shape you can add some pillow filling to stuff the ball.

The ball was painted gold with metallic gold spray paint and attached to the top of the pole with a cable tie. I attach all the signs, by drilling 2 holes in the centre of each sign for the cable ties to go through. To secure the signs and prevent them from sliding down, you can add cable ties which sit above the screws.

To seal the signs against the weather I used a clear acrylic spray first. On past projects, I have found the paint can smudge when applying varnish.  Finally, I added 2 coats of clear outdoor varnish to all the signs.

Mounting the Christmas sign

Because the sign is so big I could not come up with a stand that would hold it up in the wind.  To stand the signpost in the garden I used the rebar and wood setup I used to paint the pipe and it worked great.

More Christmas DIY Projects

If you are looking for more unique DIY Christmas ideas check out the cool flashing winter wonderland shadow box

or these stunning handpainted Unicorn Spit Christmas baubles that even a child could paint.

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