DIY Broom Parking Halloween Decoration

It’s been kind of a crazy couple of weeks around here. After the tropical storm Beta I had some plumbing issues and it stressed. me. out. I even had to buy a new dishwasher which I hadn’t planned on but on the up side, that sucker really cleans like a dream! :)

When I get super stressed I can’t really sleep. And when I don’t sleep very well I spend a lot of time working. But when you don’t sleep much you can work more and I’ve had so many ideas for Halloween crafts! And today I’m sharing with you my most recent Halloween decor DIY, this fun Broom Parking Sign!

Now isn’t that fun? Broom Parking. Violators will be toad. Get it? TOAD?

Haha, yep! This is what I do all day :) When I’m not painting my arm green to take photos of a witch parking sign I’m trolling the internet to find  big ass fake toads. p.s. it turns out I’m mildly allergic to green Halloween makeup :)

Want to make your own Broom Parking Sign?

Supplies Needed to Make Your Own Broom Parking Sign:

• Thin Plywood – 11″ x 24″
• Black Heat Transfer Vinyl (Amazon ⋆ Cricut ⋆ Expressions Vinyl)
• Orange Chalk Paint
• Black Paint Marker
• Steel Wire
• 1″ Wood Dowel – Qty 3
• Natural Raffia
• Thin Halloween Ribbon
• Broom Embellishments (Paint, bows, etc.)
• Broom Parking Free Cut File (sign up for our newsletter to get it)

A Quick Word About the Wood for this DIY

The wood for your sign doesn’t need to be fancy. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be new! The piece used for my sign is a remnant of  the wood used to line the bottoms of drawers. If using old wood make sure that it is clean and sand down the surface if needed for it to be smooth. This will help it to take your vinyl cleanly.

If you don’t have a stash of wood you can buy a piece of thin plywood from Lowe’s or Home Depot. If you don’t have the tools, they can even cut it to size for you.

Heat Transfer Vinyl vs. Permanent Vinyl

For signs I always use heat transfer vinyl simply because I cannot manage to put my design down exactly right the first time. With HTV you can put the design down and then finagle as needed so it works well on your sign. Permanent Vinyl is less forgiving. Use whichever vinyl you’re more comfortable with, they’ll both work.

Tools Needed:

• Paintbrush
• Hot Glue Gun
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Power Drill
• Cricut Maker (Amazon ⋆ Cricut)
• Cricut EasyPress 2 (Amazon ⋆ Cricut)
• Teflon Sheet (Amazon ⋆ Expressions Vinyl)

Making Your With Parking Sign:

Cut a thin piece of plywood down to 11″ x 24″ and paint with orange chalk paint. Allow to dry.

Draw a wonky black line along the edge of the sign. Allow your line to be thin in some places, thicker in others for an imperfect look. Allow the paint time to dry.

If using heat transfer vinyl, mirror your broom parking design, cut, and weed as needed.

Applying Permanent Vinyl

If using permanent vinyl do NOT mirror your cut. Weed as needed. Apply transfer tape over the weeded design. Use a scraper to apply pressure and secure the vinyl to the transfer tape. It might be necessary to go over different areas multiple times. Gently peel the transfer tape up and if any part of the design remains on the backing sheet for the vinyl, apply more pressure until it moves over. Place the full design on the transfer tape onto the wood sign. Use the scraper to apply pressure and adhere the design.

Applying Heat Transfer Vinyl

If using HTV set your Cricut EasyPress to the right temperature and time for the material. Place a teflon sheet on top of the carrier sheet. Using heat and pressure adhere the design to the board. Allow the design time to cool and then slowly begin peeling the carrier sheet off. If any part of the design has not adhered add more heat and pressure as needed. Take care not to overheat the design, you can cause the glue to seep out from the vinyl and it won’t attach itself.

*Note – take care when heating up your design. Wood will retain the heat much longer than, say, a tee shirt and can easily burn you.

Making the Broom Hanging Hooks

Trim a piece of steel wire to a piece of approximately 8″ long. Wrap the wire around the tip of a pair of needle nose pliers to form a spiral.

Bend the wire about 2 inches from the spiral to form a hanging hook. Create 3 hooks total. Hot glue to the back, underside of your sign. Apply heavy paper, like cardstock, to the glue and over the hook on the back for a super strong hold.

Making Brooms for Your Witch Parking Sign:

This year Michael’s is selling pre-made witch brooms in store for $5.99 regular price. These work really well for this project (2 of mine are from Michael’s and one is handmade) and can save you some time.

Drill a hole in the end of your wood dowel just large enough to pass a thin piece of ribbon through. Paint and embellish these broom handles any way you please and allow to dry.

Place a bundle of raffia around the bottom of the broom handle (without the drilled hole). Use a piece of raffia to wrap around and around the bunch until it is firmly in place. Use hot glue to finish attach the end of this raffia string.

Run ribbon or twine through the hole of each broom to hang them by.

Embellish your brooms any way you’d like with bows or handmade “bumper stickers”.

Notice one of my brooms is black. It was one from Michael’s but as it hung on my sign I hated it and made a replacement. That bumper sticker, though, am I right? :)

How fun is this DIY broom parking sign complete with parked brooms? Get the free cut files to make your own witch parking + tutorial!