I decided to carve a Halloween Glow in the Dark "Trick or Treat" sign, to show that we were giving out Halloween candy this year. This was my first attempt at carving with some chisels that I had purchased a few months ago. It would have been much easier to buy templates of Halloween items and use the router to route them out, but I wanted to give wood carving a try.

Supplies

MATERIALS

leftover piece of wood approx. 18.5" x 15.5" x 3/4"
Epoxy Resin
Fluorescent Orange Glow Powder
Neutral White Glow Powder
Fluorescent Yellow Glow Powder
Neutral Red Glow Powder
Black Oil Based Paint Sharpie
Yellow Oil Based Paint Sharpie
Osmo UV Protection Oil for Exterior
Carpenter's Pencil
UV Flashlight

TOOLS

Chisels
X-Acto Knife
Router
Level

Step 1: Graphic Imprint of the Sign

I found 4 Halloween images on the internet and copied them into MS Word. I also created a text box of the phrase "Trick or Treat" in MS Word and went through the various fonts until I found one that I liked for this sign (Modern Love Grunge at 140 font). I sized the images to fit my sign and printed them on 8.5"x11" paper. I traced the images on the board with and X-Acto knife, and them went over all the imprinted images with a carpenter's pencil.

Step 2: Chiseling the Sign

I imprinted the outline of the images and text with a small chisel. This was a very tedious and time consuming process. I also used small and large curved chisel that fit the borders of the images and text. I then chiseled a secondary border a few millimeters in from the border (this is best illustrated in image # 3 of this step with the ghost or on the bottom of the pumpkin). I carefully chiseled out this thin strip, and then the remaining larger areas. This took awhile but was necessary in order to avoid chipping the borders while chiseling out the interior sections.

Step 3: Outline the Images

In order to make the images stand out I outlined them with a Black Oil Based Paint Sharpie. I also shaded the interior of the eyes and nose of the pumpkin with a Yellow Oil Based Paint Sharpie.

Step 4: Adding Glow in the Dark Epoxy Resin

I levelled the board and mixed the epoxy resin per the manufacturers instructions. For this particular project I used a quick set epoxy with a work time of approximately 30 minutes and a cure time of 12 hours. I added glow powder to the epoxy for the various images: orange for the pumpkin; white for the ghost and the moon with stars; yellow for the text; and daytime white/red glow for the bat. During the mixing process I turned the lights out and used a UV flashlight to test the glow of the powder.

Step 5: Adding a Border With the Router

I added a boder to the sign for a more finished look. I used a 5/16 Cove Fillet bit in the router.

Step 6: Outdoor Wood Oil Finish

Finally, I added Osmo UV Protection Oil to seal and protect the wood.

Step 7: Hang the Sign

I charged the sign with the UV flashlight and then hung the sign on the railing to show that we were giving out Halloween candy this year. While we sat on the porch handing out the candy I had to recharge the sign with the UV flashlight a couple of times over the 2 hour period until we ran out of candy.

I hope you like this project!