Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a dazzling New Year’s Eve, and that you’re as excited about 2014 as I am. I love change and new beginnings, and I’m ready to tackle these next 12 months with optimism and lots of art supplies!
To bring in the new year, Wake&Whimsy style, I thought I would post a little DIY project. I am loving all of these fun marquee letters that I’ve seen all over Pinterest, and I wanted to join in on the party! So, I made my own. It was really easy and very inexpensive.
1. I used Christmas lights, paint, and a cardboard letter from Hobby Lobby. I already had some paint and Christmas lights on hand, but you can find lights super cheap right now pretty much anywhere. I could only find really small letters, but I know they do make them bigger at other places. I would have liked to use lights with bigger bulbs, but they wouldn’t fit into this little guy!
2.I used an x-acto knife to cut open the letter, so that the lights would have a recessed look.
3. Just carefully cut along one of the seams, and then you can just pull the rest apart. This was very easy.
4. I painted the inside of the letter an orange color to give it a more vintage feel, and painted the outside a silver color to give it a “metal” effect.
Next, I used the knife to make holes for the lights. I marked where I wanted the lights to go by making a small dot with a pencil. Then I cut an X right over the dot. This made it really easy to push the lights through, which is the last step!
Once your lights are set, plug it in, and you’re done!
Here are some other great takes on DIY Marquee letters complete with links:
This was the perfect project to bring in what will hopefully be a bright, new year. Happy 2014, everyone—make it count!