Fall craft show season is almost here, and this laser-cut fall directional sign post was designed to stop shoppers in their tracks!
In this video, we build a 36-inch Cozy Hollow fall porch sign using 1/4-inch MDF, Foxy Hues outdoor-safe paint, UV-printed accents, a solar light, and a simple 1x2 board. We’ll show you the entire process, including laser cutting, painting, UV printing, assembly, production time, material costs, and how much we would charge for the finished project.
The UV-printed mum, s’mores, wagon wheel, pumpkin, and bonfire accents give this project a premium look without making assembly overly complicated. It’s a great product for fall craft shows, porch décor, seasonal workshops, and small laser businesses looking for higher-value inventory.
Project Breakdown
Materials cost: Approximately $15 Estimated cost with production time: $20–$25 Suggested retail price: Approximately $75 Laser cutting time: 28–52 minutes, depending on the machine UV printing time: 8–30 minutes, depending on the printer Painting time: Approximately 30 minutes with two people
The digital download includes the laser-ready SVG cut files and UV print files needed to recreate the complete project. You can also purchase the project as an unfinished kit or access the file through the Make It Mafia membership.
FYI: We are not professionals, and we don’t claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. We have just enough woodworking skill to make some basic furniture. Safety first!
FTC Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored video. All opinions are genuinely our own. This post may contain affiliate links and we earn a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. It doesn't cost you any extra. Thank you for your continued support to keep Making It!
AI Generated·May contain errors
Video Summary
AI Generated
This video provides a comprehensive guide on creating a seasonal fall-themed directional sign post for craft shows. The creators demonstrate a \"Cut, Print, Paint\" (CPP) workflow using laser cutting and UV printing to increase the product's perceived value, detailing the materials, production time, and pricing strategy for makers.
Fall is here and we're ready to take our craft shows to the next level.
We just made this super cute porch post and we're going to show you how we made it,
how much it cost, how long it took, and how much we'd sell it for.
What is up? Welcome back. We know you love to do it, build it, and make it.
And we're here to help you sell it.
So hit that like button and if you're not yet subscribed,
subscribe and tick that bell to be notified of our new videos each week.
This week, fall is in the air. Well, not really,
but it's getting real close to craft show season.
Yeah, you're not too early. You're almost too late.
You know what they say, sweater weather is seller weather.
By the time you see the back to school stuff,
you should already have your inventory going, if not ready for the fall craft shows.
And we've had a lot of requests during our workshops for that little porch post,
that sign directional sign post for Christmas.
A lot of people coming in and do it for the workshops
and we noticed that the kits have started to pick up.
So I felt like we needed a fall version.
We have a Halloween version. We have a Christmas version,
but we need like something good for fall.
And we didn't want to just make the same type that we made last year.
We have a lot of different tools.
So this time I wanted to go ahead and put some UV printed accents on each piece
to make it pop, just take it to a whole other level.
Yeah, so we're going to test it out today.
We're going to find out how long it takes to cut,
how long it takes to print, how long it takes to paint and assemble.
Step one, we're going to make all of our cuts.
I've already created the cut file
and you can access it on our website at kngmakeit.com
under the digital download section.
This comes with the SVG and the print file
where we'll be adding the accents a little bit later.
Now, if you're not yet part of our membership tier,
you can become part of the Maker Mafia
and access this file as part of your membership downloads.
We'll be cutting all of our pieces out of quarter inch MDF.
Now, not all quarter inch MDF is the same.
Our quarter inch MDF that you can also access at kngmakeit.com
is laser rated, so it cuts beautifully every time.
We'll be making all of our cuts using our X-Tool P3.
This is an 80 watt laser.
It has an 18 by 36 inch bed.
So I'm going to need to make two cuts.
And lastly, you're also going to need a 36 inch,
one by two to use as your post.
Step two, now we paint.
We're going to be painting with our FoxyHues paints.
Now you can find these paints on our website.
We're using these because they are outdoor safe.
So they're same stuff you paint your house with.
So it has all of those outdoor additives.
It's UV resistant, weather resistant.
And we're going to be using most of this new palette.
If you haven't been following us or you haven't seen on our website,
we have a moss and timber palette.
And if this is this cottage, earthy, it's almost a little masculine.
But I really love this dark palette.
And I think it's going to be perfect for this fall.
Yeah, cozy little holiday.
You know, what is the word I'm looking for?
Directional sign post.
It's not really holiday.
Yeah, seasonal is the word I was looking for.
It's going to be great for this fall seasonal directional sign.
And we're going to be using most of these colors in this palette,
plus a few additional ones that really bring out those fall colors.
You know that we need the burgundy, this ambush auburn,
and you know, we need the orange and the dark golds.
All of that just screams fall.
The first thing we're going to do is separate all of our little pieces into the colors,
because it's easiest to paint if you have them grouped by color.
So we're going to just put some of this little tape down, face up, sticky side up,
tape the ends down so it doesn't go anywhere.
And if you haven't seen this great tape dispenser,
we also offer this on our website by popular demand.
We started using it on our chest cut Tuesdays.
We 3D printed them.
You can grab one on our website, but you can also make yourself one.
These things are great to dispense your painter's tape here
instead of having to peel the roll and pull it off.
Have uneven grip.
Yes.
Not to use your teeth.
Not using my teeth.
All right.
So I'm just going to put all of my little letters together that are the same color,
I guess.
Actually, I'm going to put it over there.
All of yours.
We're going to be using modified tube socks.
So you're going to put all the modified tube sock together, right?
Yeah.
I notice in workshops, people are always like,
oh, my gosh, you got to keep all my pieces together.
They're trying to keep their words spelled correctly.
And I'm like, it doesn't matter.
Just fit the letters together as close as you can.
Yeah, but it doesn't spell bonfire.
Yeah.
And then they realize and they're like, oh, yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter.
It's like it doesn't matter.
Step three.
Now we're going to print our accents.
What Kim likes to call CPP.
Cut, print, print.
Now we've already cut our shapes out.
That was part of the cut file.
But we're going to do two prints.
The first print is going to be the outline of the shape.
So you know exactly where they're going to lay on your desktop printer bed.
Now, this is so that you can use that zero.
Yeah.
Zero point alignment.
You don't have to take a picture.
You don't have to take the whole however long it takes to take the picture and get together.
Right.
Yeah.
You're just going to print the outline.
We're going to lay these pieces in the outline of the SVG.
We're going to print our SVG and then we're going to lay our pieces inside the outline.
And then we're going to print our pictures.
I know you're going to ask what to put the green tape.
Well, the green tape is a lot cheaper than those.
So I lay the green tape down sticky side up and then I'll print on the green tape
and then I can stick my pieces to that instead of messing up the mat.
Step four.
Time to assemble.
We're going to put all the little signs together using some star bond thick.
And then we're going to tack them and glue them to the one by two.
Using like a half inch brad.
The male, not the guy.
That's an oldie but a goodie.
This should all be pretty easy and quick to assemble because most of the decorative piece
is part of the is part of the frame.
Like this guy has got the.
I love that.
I noticed.
Yeah.
So this should be pretty easy and a quick assembly.
Now we're putting the solar light on the top of this thing.
So I built a little frame.
It's going to sit in right on the top.
So we're just going to attach the frame pieces with some star bond and then hit them with a brad.
The male, not the guy.
Just be sure.
Now this tab is the same width as this guy.
So we're going to use this as our spacer.
Okay.
Line it up at the top.
Make sure I have some room on the side.
I'm going to tack it real quick and flip it over and do the same thing.
All of our little accents are done being printed.
They look great.
This one looks delicious.
And this tiny marshmallow is looking pretty delicious too.
These are what's really going to take this to the next level.
And if you're asking yourself, are these going to be okay to sit outside?
They are because they're UV printed.
They also have that protection against the UV sun rays.
It's not going to fade them and they're going to be fine to get wet outdoors on your front porch.
We're just going to glue these in the spaces that I left with a little bit of the star bond thick.
All right.
We're going to line them up on our one by two space amount, put a little bit of glue on there
and give them a quick inconspicuous.
Okay.
Well, that's why I was putting the base together because I feel like you got to know.
Yeah.
Where that's going to sit.
All right.
Now we'll put the little foot together.
Little base.
This is lost.
I already checked.
It's going to be tight.
She's going to be tight.
This thing ain't going nowhere.
That ain't going nowhere.
Oh my gosh.
Look at that.
Do you put the light on top?
Put your hand over it.
I don't know if you could see the light.
So awesome.
Is he light?
Yeah, I can.
So we know what your questions are going to be.
How long did it take?
How much did it cost?
And what can I sell it for?
Yes.
So how much did it cost?
I think we're all in on the MDF.
Like six dollars.
A couple of dollars in paint.
It was just a couple of ounces.
I'm going to say two dollars in paint.
And it was 2.4 milliliters of ink.
So I'm not sure what that comes out to be.
Like a dollar in ink.
If that much.
Yeah.
Maybe a dollar in ink.
So and then the light cost five dollars.
So about fifteen dollars all in.
How long did it take?
The cut took the longest.
It took 52 minutes on the P3.
So.
But I did.
I did go ahead and run it on the 100 watt to see what it would do.
And I was able to get that in 28 minutes.
Everything cut.
On the bigger bed.
Bigger laser.
More powerful.
Ran a little bit faster.
So.
Cut paint time.
Paint time was about 30 minutes for the two of us to paint it together.
I think we could have done it even faster.
But we were dilly dallying.
And then the prints.
Your cute little accents.
Which are totally worth it.
Because the perceived value goes way up with these guys.
They take about 30 minutes to print, right?
It took about 30 minutes to print.
I did run it on a Logo Jet.
Where it took eight minutes for all.
All five pieces.
So yeah.
We ran it on the Eufy Make for 30 minutes.
Eufy Make took 30 minutes.
Logo Jet took eight.
So again.
This is a great prototyping.
It let us see if it's feasible.
Yes, it's feasible.
Yes, we can batch them out.
And then how much would we sell them for?
So I think.
I think all in.
With everything.
Where are we?
Like more like $20.
With time and everything.
Probably $20, $25.
And then I know easily.
I can sell this for $75.
How easy.
And then I would love to put a little.
Raffia at the bottom.
To make it look like a little hay down here.
I could do that.
But that's just an added expense in time.
You don't really need it.
But it does add that little something extra.
Let them do it.
Let the customer add something to the base that they need to.
Almost everything we use for this project can be found at kngmakeit.com.
We have our FoxyHues paints.
And you can access all of these beautiful colors and our FoxyHues paints.
This entire set comes in a kit.
You can get it in an unfinished kit.
Where we send you the MDF and you paint it yourself.
Or you can download the digital file.
Which comes with all of the elements that you see here.
It comes with the CCP.
It comes with the cut print print.
It even comes with the print files.
That you see accents that we've added here.
And if you're not yet part of the Make It Mafia.
You can join our membership tier.
Where you can access this file as part of your credits.
Well I'm about out of time.
I gotta go make a bunch more of these.
Craft Show season is right around the corner.
It's knocking at my back door.
Big thanks to the Make It Mafia.
We love you guys.
You did not say knocking at my back door.
