If you love Halloween and want to decorate on a budget, or just like to save some money and have fun at the same time, then these fake boards are perfect for you! I did saw a picture of something similar and decided to make a mini tutorial. You can use them to board up windows and doors to give that spooky, abandoned, “we’re not supposed to be in here~” feeling. You can also use them for whatever else you can think of, be creative!
First off, you need some kind of cutting device, like an X-acto knife or scissors(not your fancy ones, because cutting cardboard will ruin them).
A brown marker
And of course, some CARDBOARD!!!!
What makes this “free” is that you should have some boxes laying around that you can cut up, or someone you know does. People are usually happy to let you take it off their hands because it is bulky and sometimes difficult to dispose of. If you know someone who has just moved or purchased a large appliance, seek out these large boxes. These bigger pieces are what will really create a huge impact, especially if you are going to use them outside and want them to be seen from the street. If you still can’t find any, then you can go dumpster diving for boxes from retail stores. Just go behind the building and look in the green dumpsters. Just make sure you stay in the CARDBOARD ONLY dumpsters to avoid potential nasties.
This is the smallest size box I would recommend using. It doesn’t matter it there is printing on the outside because the inside should be brown, that is the side we will draw on. You can’t tell from this picture, but this box is a rectangle and the short sides are too short to use. I cut off the top two long flaps, the bottom two long flaps, and cut apart the box to it’s four sides. Then I cut the long sides in half long ways. That gave me 8 boards from one box.
Now that you have your long skinny rectangle pieces, you will use your marker to draw lines. This can be kind of tricky to get the lines to resemble wood and not just scribbles. I find it helps to start with a knot in the wood placed anywhere, and then start on one side going down and circling out around the knot. Keep making those lines until you’ve reached the end of the board. After that, just do the same on the other side! Remember not to draw the lines equal distances apart. We are trying to replicate nature, and nature is never perfect. You can add more than one knot if you like, and change where you place it to mix them up a bit. You can also cut notches out of the ends to make it look old and ragged like in the first picture. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so have fun! Happy Halloween! 😀
A Familiar Illusion 