Making autumn decorations out of wood: 5 ideas with instructions and lots of inspiration

With the beginning of autumn, the desire for handicrafts comes! If you want to decorate the outdoor area in autumn, autumn decorations made of wood are a good choice. We’ll show you some great ideas on how to make autumn decorations and welcome autumn at the entrance.

Make door wreaths from wooden discs yourself

Wooden discs are a popular craft material for rustic-looking decorations. You can conveniently purchase these online and in different sizes. You can also choose the type of wood that you like best. And how do you make a rustic door wreath out of wooden slices? Check out our simple guide!

Prepare the materials that will be needed to make the decoration. You can also purchase the wooden discs conveniently online. When ordering, be sure to pay attention to the specified diameter. You need a total of about 11 wooden discs made of oak and 11 wooden discs made of birch wood with a diameter of about 10-15 cm.

• If necessary, sand the wooden discs with sandpaper.
• Arrange the oak slices in a circle.
• Then make a second row of birch wood slices on top of it. When arranging, make sure that each birch slice is between two oak slices.
• Since oak is very hard, you will need to use a drill bit to drill two holes in each disc.

• Turn the entire wreath over.
• Use a cordless drill and screws to fasten the panes together. Make sure the screws are not too long.
• Thread a cord through a drilled hole to hang the wreath on a door.

And now comes the fun part: the decoration. A jute ribbon bow goes very well with raw wood, while hawthorn twigs add more contrast with their beautiful red berries. Use a jute cord to tie the hawthorn branches to the wreath. Also glue a few pine cones under the bow. Just put a dollop of hot glue on the wooden disc and, before it cools down, press the tenon onto it.

Upcycling idea: owl made of wood and old things

Owls are a popular fall craft idea. Here we show you how you can make this adorable owl yourself out of wooden discs and a few old objects from the flea market. You will need the following:

• a large wooden disc
• many small wooden discs (about 40)
• two pine cones
• a piece of old wood as the basis for the autumn decoration

As far as the hardware is concerned, use what you can find at the flea market such as porcelain door knobs for eyes, a rusty door fitting as a base, an antique drawer handle as “spring ears” and a small key for the beak. You can really work with anything you have.

You can use hot glue to glue all of the pieces together. However, if you want to set up the autumn decoration outside, it is best to use an outside adhesive that can withstand sun and wind.

1. First glue the pine cones to the wooden board.
2. Then it is the turn of the small wooden discs.
3. Glue two discs at the very top as a basis for the eyes and the characteristic “feather ears”.
4. Then make your eyes out of two doorknobs.
5. Add the little key between the eyes as a beak.
6. Finally, complete the look with the drawer handle.

To make the owl stand more stable, fix it to the wooden plate with screws.

Scarecrows made from wooden boards

These wooden scarecrows are so cute and easy to make! With this you can bring the autumn flair into your garden in no time at all, after the harvest has already been brought in. But also on Halloween they are a great eye-catcher in front of the house entrance.

Required materials:

A wooden slat, rough-sawn, 2.3 thick and 15 cm wide – is cut to around 80 cm

A wooden lath, rough-sawn, 2.3 thick and 10 cm wide – is cut to 30 cm

bast

Jute ribbon

hot glue

Wood stain walnut

White chalk paint

Black chalk paint

Chalk color of your choice for hat and nose, here blue and orange

Black marker

Polyurethane paint (spray)

possibly decoration for the hat

Needed tools:

32 mm wood screws

Electric screwdriver

Chop saw or hand saw

Hot glue gun

Sponge brush

Rag

instructions

– Cut the larger board to 80 cm and the smaller one to 30 cm. Sand the edges smooth.

– Use a pencil to mark the position of the hat on both sides of the wooden slat. Place the smaller piece on the larger board where you want the hat to sit. It can stand straight or at an angle.

– Paint the larger board with wood stain and a sponge brush. With the dark walnut stain, the face of the scarecrow comes into its own and you can still see the wood grain. Rub the wood with a rag to remove any excess stain. Set aside to dry.

– Next, paint the “hat” and “hat brim” in blue.

Paint the face on

– Once the scarecrow is dry, it’s time to paint on the face. Draw the eyes and nose either freehand or using a stencil.

– To get a slightly smiling face, you can line a can of tomato sauce with a pencil.

– Then paint the eyes with white paint. You may need 2 to 3 coats. Let the paint dry completely between coats. The nose is painted orange.

– When the paint is dry, trace the contours of the eyes and nose with a black marker. Then paint on the mouth as well.

– Let the paint dry completely and then spray the whole thing with a polyurethane varnish. Set aside to dry.

Make the hair out of bast

– Place the large wooden board on top of the small one and align the brim of the hat along the markings. Now mark the edges of the larger wooden slat on the brim of the hat. Glue the raffia on between these lines with hot glue.

– Then screw the two wooden slats together. You can now also cut the scarecrow hair however you like.

– If desired, glue a small accessory onto the hat as well to complete the look.

If you want to add more decorations to the scarecrow, you can glue a wide jute ribbon and some more raffia at the very bottom.

The scarecrows are ready!

Instead of painting the mouth, you can glue on a wire spiral as a mouth

You can also use boards made from old pallets

And here is another idea how to decorate your wooden scarecrow

Make pumpkins out of wood

These wooden pumpkins are also a great autumn decoration idea for outside. They create an autumn mood both in front of the front door and in the garden. With this handicraft project, too, there are numerous options available to you to decorate the wooden pumpkins and give them a unique charm.

To make this pumpkin, you need rough-sawn wooden slats that are 5 cm thick and 10 cm wide. These are then cut into pieces of different lengths and placed on top of one another so that they take on the shape of a pumpkin. Here are the exact lengths of the individual wooden slats from bottom to top:

23 cm

25 cm

28 cm

30 cm

28 cm

25 cm

23 cm

12 cm

To make the stem of the pumpkin, also cut a piece of square ledge at 30 degrees and glue it all the way on top. Alternatively, you can use a tree branch cut to the right size or even wine corks for smaller works of art.

Tie a bast loop on the stem

Wine corks are great for smaller figures

And here is another nice idea for 3D wooden pumpkins

With a little paint and stencils, you can create fun patterns

Cut out pumpkins from old pallets and decorate them

Wooden board with autumn saying as autumn decoration outside

Welcome autumn in style with a self-made wooden sign! If you want to turn your porch into an autumn paradise with lots of pumpkins and chrysanthemums, this vertical sign with a saying can be a great eye-catcher. It adds height to any arrangement and also conjures up a positive atmosphere.

You need a wooden board with a width of 280 mm from the hardware store. You can then adjust the length yourself. A length of 125 cm would be ideal. Paint the board with white paint and let it dry completely.

By the way, you can design your own stickers and have them printed on vinyl foil. First choose the motifs, sayings or the like, have the whole thing cut out by a plotter and weed the individual motifs (if you cannot do that yourself).

You can also use Word or other design software to create the letters on your computer. Adjust the size of the letters to the wooden board. Always check the print preview and do a test print on regular printer paper to make sure that the size is correct.

Use a transfer film to transfer your vinyl film onto the wooden board. To apply your film bubble-free, smooth the vinyl film with a squeegee or a rag. Then paint the whole thing with orange paint. Multiple coats of paint may be required. Once the paint has dried, peel off the vinyl letters, then apply top coat to protect the paint.

You can also use a stencil and spray paint instead of stickers to transfer designs onto wood

Choose a font that is easy to read from a distance

And here are a few more ideas on how to decorate the house entrance for autumn:

The wooden sign looks wonderful on the front door

You can also add height to the decoration with wooden boxes

Elements of different heights ensure visual dynamism

The writing comes into its own against a dark background

With small bales of straw you can quickly and unmistakably create an autumnal and rural decoration