For this project I wanted to create some spooky ghost friends for the background of the piece. I used the Procreate app and an Apple Pencil to draw the designs but don’t worry, we did the work for you! You can skip this step and click the link to download the entire Ghastly Ghouls PNG Bundle Pack for FREE! Load the images into your vinyl cutting machine and you’re ready to go! If you do not have a vinyl cutting machine, print the images on computer paper and trace them onto tissue paper. Lay the tissue paper image onto your piece and trace over the lines with a sharpie. The sharpie will transfer through the tissue paper and onto your piece so you can fill in the design with acrylic paint.

My wooden panel came with multiple crooked hangers attached to the back of the board. Once I removed all of the hangers, I was left with multiple holes to fill. I used a window, trim and door sealant to patch all of the holes and smoothed the sealant out with a plastic scraper. When the sealant was completely dry, I sanded the surface with a 120 grit sponger sander and spray painted the entire piece black (this took about 2 coats). Let the panel dry for 24 hours before moving on to the next step.

Peel and stick the ghost vinyl cut outs to the painted wooden panel. For the first layer, I used 5 ghosts but you can add more or less depending on the size of your panel and the desired design. Pour on a thin layer of Table Top Pro epoxy, tinted with black pigment powder, over your first layer of ghosts. You do NOT want the epoxy to be completely opaque black, just add enough to slightly tint it so you can still see the ghosts through the epoxy. Let the layer cure completely and repeat the above steps. For the last two layers (layer 3-4), resize your ghosts so they are slightly larger. This will give the illusion that the smaller/darker ghosts are further back while the larger/lighter ghosts are closer. For the fourth epoxy coat, do not add any black pigment. Leave the epoxy clear and add a tiny bit of extra fine glitter. Let the layer cure before moving on.

Once you have your words centered, use painter’s tape to tack down one side of the vinyl and peel a bit of the backing off of the opposite side. Press down firmly on the sticker, remove the painter’s tape and peel the backing off of the other side. Smooth down the vinyl and repeat with all remaining words. Add one last layer of clear epoxy to finish off the piece.