Purchase Wooden Cutouts from the Dollar Tree

Head to the kid’s craft section at your local Dollar Tree and you’ll find little cutouts that come with markers. You can flip them over and paint whatever you want on the other side. This is a great way to practice painting on wood without spending very much as these are only one dollar.

Practice Painting on Canvas

They also have canvases available at the Dollar Tree and you can apply our printable template directly to the canvas. All you need is some graphite paper to place behind the template and on top of the canvas so that you can trace it. I wrote an entire blog post on how to use a printable template on a canvas, so be sure to check it out!

Paint Using a Mixed Media Pad

Even as an artist who has been painting for a long time, I still need to practice new techniques. I have a mixed media pad that I keep on hand for times like these! Mixed media paper is thicker than regular paper so you can paint on it without it bleeding through. You can find these at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, or I even have one linked in my Amazon affiliate shop if you want to order right now!

Recycle Old Cardboard

This last way to practice painting door hangers is the most economical or cost effective, and that’s to reuse old cardboard boxes. I sometimes do this with old Amazon boxes. I’ll just cut part of the cardboard out then use graphite paper to transfer my design from my template to the cardboard. I also have graphite paper linked in my Amazon affiliate shop if you’re in a pinch and need to purchase some. This is a great way to practice because it’s similar to painting on wood and the paint isn’t going to soak through or make a mess.

Need Some Templates to Practice With?

I sell a ton of templates in my shop at shopdoorhangers.com, but you can find some free templates to practice with in my free template library! There are a variety of templates and tutorials in there to get you started for free so be sure to take advantage of this amazing resource! Now grab some paint and go practice!