I've always loved ouija boards, I've owned at least 4 of them. I like the look of the wooden handmade ones best; the most popular kind can be purchased at toy stores-- I don't know how I feel about that.

I've decided to make my own, again. My last board was wooden as well, but very plain. I decided to make this one a Halloween themed board. I am the "Haunted Housewife", afterall. Spooky is my style .

Step 1: Gather Materials

Clicking the links will take you to the exact product on amazon! I get a lot of my supplies from amazon because amazon has the best prices, free shipping and everything comes in one box!

Plank of wood (Michael's, 13.99)
Wood stain $1

Large paint brush

Little paint brushes(any! even the cheap ones that come with water colors will do fine!)

Clear acrylic coating

For the planchette:

Brown acrylic paint

Super Sculpey

rolling pin (optional)

Step 2: Trace Board

Use the parchment paper to trace the surface area of the board. You'll need this in a bit to start planning your board. I traced mine with a carbon pencil. A regular pencil is fine, too. Make sure to trace the surface area of the front. (I say this because the back actually has a bigger surface area than the front on my board).

Instead of tracing, you could always just take the measurements of the front of the board and make a rectangle that size on the parchment paper for your plans. That might be a little easier.

Step 3: Plan Out What You're Going to Do.

I knew that I wanted the pumpkin as my "sun" and a wolf howling at the moon as my "moon". You can use a regular sun and moon if you'd like. Have fun with it, this is your lovechild.

I used the old English stencil for the letters, and words. I made sure all of the letters were in order, and my spellings were correct. I also made sure I liked the way it looked.

As far as the designs at the top, I didn't really get into planning those completely because I wanted to be able to do to that with the paint, later.

Step 4: Stain Board

Now back to your board. Time to stain your board. This part is super easy. Follow the instructions on your can of stain.

Basically:
Use your big paint brush to apply the stain, in the direction of the grain. I let the stain sit for about 5 minutes before wiping off the access with a dry cloth.

I let it sit overnight outside to dry (minimum of 8 hours drying time).

Please do this in a well ventilated area, outside if you can or with a mask covering your mouth and nose. The smell is strong, and I'd hate for you to pass out, friend.

Step 5: Using Carbon Paper

I didn't get pictures of this step, my apologies! After your stain of choice has dried, now it's time to transfer your ideas onto the board itself. This is the purpose of the carbon paper, of course. I wanted my plans to be exactly as I had them on the parchment paper.

You'll need to grab a sheet of carbon paper that's roughly the same size of your board or larger. I bought my carbon paper in a roll for this purpose. Place the carbon paper black side down onto the front surface of your board. This is the ink of the paper. Now put your plans (the parchment paper) over the carbon paper and make sure it's straight.

I had to tape the parchment paper to the carbon paper, and then tape it to the board to prevent it from sliding around.

Pro Tip: tape doesn't stick to parchment paper very well, as I've learned, lol. You may have to fight with it like I did.

Now you'll grab a pencil and trace your plans while pressing down hard. The carbon paper ink will transfer your plans directly to the board. Once you've traced everything, remove the parchment paper and carbon paper.

Step 6: Painting Your Board

I'm so sorry I didn't get pictures of this step, either! I stained my board a dark color, so the plans hardly showed up on the board. I was still able to see them and paint over them.

Using black acrylic paint and a smaller paintbrush, I created a border around my board. I traced over the letters and designs with my paintbrush and paint. I had completely forgotten numbers in my plans though, so I had to freehand those. Those came out better than I had expected.

It looks amateur and homemade, and that was the exact look I was going for. It super proud of how it came out.

Then: Let the black paint dry for a few hours. Check it after 4 hours and if its dry, spray it with a clear acrylic coating in a matte finish.

Once again let it dry overnight. You're done with your board, congratulations!

Last step is making the planchette!

Step 7: The Planchette

I used Super Sculpey for the planchette (pointer). I rolled it into a ball, and flattened it with a rolling pin (much like play-doh). I made it into a heart shape, then found a cap to a spice I use in my kitchen and used that as a cookie cutter for the "window" circle in the middle. (You can definitely get yours to look better than I did, lol. Imperfections are welcome in my projects, it gives them character!)

Then, I rolled out three tiny balls for the "feet" and applied those to the underside as you can see in the photo. I flipped it over so that it was resting on it's legs and pressed down gently to ensure all three legs were able to rest perfectly on the surface of my table (important!).

After that, I put it in my toaster oven for about 20 minutes to bake and harden. Please look at the cooking instructions on your specific box of Super Sculpey, it could be different than mine.

When it came out of the oven, I let it cool. I sanded it down with some drywall sand paper that I use around my house until it was smooth. I wiped it down with a moist cloth to remove the specs of debris, and finally I painted it with two coats of a brown paint that I mixed myself.

I have yet to add felt onto the feet, but it would definitely help the planchette to glide on your board, so I recommend doing that. Let the paint dry, I let it dry overnight.

Congratulations, you now have a planchette to use with your new Ouija board! Please remember to be cautious when playing with spirit boards. Know the rules, and be responsible!

Thank you for viewing my tutorial, and as always, message me if you've got any questions. If you want to keep up with my daily life, please view my blog at www.thehauntedhousewife.com!