How to Make Your Own Vintage Marquee Lights

One DIY project you can consider doing is making your own vintage marquee lights. It is made of inexpensive materials and making it will not take a day. The most tedious part of the project is cutting out the letters. Therefore, the duration of the project will depend on the number of letters you are going to make.

The materials you need for DIY vintage marquee lights are 1/8-inch foam board, box cutter, poster board, packing tape, masking tape, spray paint, ruler, and string of lights.

The first step is to draw the letters on the foam board and cut them out. You can do this freehand or use a printout of the letter as a template. Then turn the letter over so that the backside is on top. Draw a line down the center at the center of each letter. Get the box of the string of lights and use it as a template to draw holes where the light bulbs will go through. Cut out the holes in the middle of each letter.

Get the poster board and cut it into strips that are 5 1/2 inches wide. The strips will be used to go around the letters help them stand on their own. Attach the stripes with the use of masking tape. The foam board letters must be 2 inches within the strips. In order to get sharp creases, score the poster board first before bending. Secure the strips with tape and reinforce them until they are sturdy. Packing tape is used to reinforce the strips.

Use the spray paint color of your choice. Make sure you cover all the areas of the vintage marquee lights. Then let it dry. Once the paint is dry, place the light bulbs inside the holes and then screw them into the sockets. The bulbs should be screwed all the way through to work properly. It might take more than one strand of string of lights. You might need to connect two or more strands together to spell out the entire word. To hide the wires of the string of lights, tape them in place and secure with glue. This will make the letters marquee lights look cleaner. The last step is to plug in the lights, and your job is done.

You can use the vintage marquee lights for parties or as decors in your house of workplace. You can place it on the mantel or hang on the wall. The marquee can spell out your name, a word, a phrase, or the name of your company. It can be a single letter. The marquee lights also make good gifts for your loved ones. The best part about this DIY project is that the materials are affordable, and anyone can do it because it doesn’t require special skills.