
Tape off the top and the bottom of your DIY Large Basswood Plank with Bark on the two bark edges.

With black chalk paint, paint your piece of wood using a foam brush. Add two or three coats of chalk paint.

Use a ruler and a pencil to draw some guidelines. If you have chalk, you can make your guidelines very lightly with chalk. My design was three lines, so I drew three very faint lines.

Chalk markers are a semi-permanent tool and are great for signs. You can erase them with water, but they don't wipe off as easy as regular chalk. Carefully sketch your design using the Marvy® White Bistro Chalk Marker.

Once you have the foundation of your design, go back over your letters. Anytime you draw a down stroke, make it slightly thicker. For example, when you write an uppercase "B" the first stoke is down, so you will want to go back over that to make it look thicker. Both of the humps are also down strokes, and you will want to go over those too. Go over all the down strokes and make them thick.

Next, draw a few vines for your bugs to "climb" on. Draw a line, followed by the leaves.

To add more detail to the leaves, add a line inside the leaf. After the leaf is almost dry, lightly smear it so it's less crisp and looks more chalky.

Using a Surebonder® Low Temperature Mini hot glue gun, add a dab of hot glue to the back of a bug and place one bug on each vine.

You're all finished! You can now use this as a serving tray or as a party sign! See how we used this sign in our Creepy Crawly Bug Party. Make sure to get the recipe for Gummy Worm Dirt Pudding Cups and see how to play your own Bug Dig Bingo Activity!

Tape off the top and the bottom of your DIY Large Basswood Plank with Bark on the two bark edges.

With black chalk paint, paint your piece of wood using a foam brush. Add two or three coats of chalk paint.

Use a ruler and a pencil to draw some guidelines. If you have chalk, you can make your guidelines very lightly with chalk. My design was three lines, so I drew three very faint lines.

Chalk markers are a semi-permanent tool and are great for signs. You can erase them with water, but they don't wipe off as easy as regular chalk. Carefully sketch your design using the Marvy® White Bistro Chalk Marker.

Once you have the foundation of your design, go back over your letters. Anytime you draw a down stroke, make it slightly thicker. For example, when you write an uppercase "B" the first stoke is down, so you will want to go back over that to make it look thicker. Both of the humps are also down strokes, and you will want to go over those too. Go over all the down strokes and make them thick.

Next, draw a few vines for your bugs to "climb" on. Draw a line, followed by the leaves.

To add more detail to the leaves, add a line inside the leaf. After the leaf is almost dry, lightly smear it so it's less crisp and looks more chalky.

Using a Surebonder® Low Temperature Mini hot glue gun, add a dab of hot glue to the back of a bug and place one bug on each vine.

You're all finished! You can now use this as a serving tray or as a party sign! See how we used this sign in our Creepy Crawly Bug Party. Make sure to get the recipe for Gummy Worm Dirt Pudding Cups and see how to play your own Bug Dig Bingo Activity!