Boo...DIY marquee sign

We are nearly there!!

The shops are emptying of pumpkins and sweets, and if you are planning a Halloween party, like we are, you best start digging out all your skeletons (in your closets, lofts and cellars...)

There is still time for some last minute DIY decorations, and making this Spooky marquee sign will only take a couple of hours...

I will show you how...

 You will need:

Cardboard letters (mine spells out a scary BOO...)

ruler

pencil

drill & drill bit

small battery operated fairy lights

sandpaper

scalpel

Paint (I used black spray paint and gold rub'n'buff)

double sided tape

Small wooden board (cut to fit your letters on)

 

 First thing to do is measure our on your cardboard letters where you want the lights to come through...

A small set of battery operated fairy lights usually come with 20 lights on a string...so bear that number in mind when working out how many holes to put in each letter...

When you are happy with the planned positioning of the lights, use a sharp drill bit, SLIGHTLY SMALLER that the circumference of the tip of your fairy lights, to drill out the holes...

Next thing to do is to turn your letters over, and using a scalpel, cut out the back of the letters, leaving a 5ml lip all around the sides, like in the pictures above...

 

 At this stage, I would suggest that you try pushing the fairy lights in from the back through the holes...You may find, like I did, that some of the holes need widening a tad...do this by wriggling the back end of your drill bit in the hole...

When you are satisfied that its all going to fit, use some sandpaper to sand back any fluffy bits of cardboard around the holes at the front...

...Now you are ready to decorate your letters:

 

You can of course decorate your marquee sign however you desire, but I thought I'd just show you how I made mine look old and metallic...it's so simple:

I spray-painted my cardboard letters black then used my "antique gold" rub'n'buff and goldfingered them lightly...that's it!!

See my post on "goldfingering" here!!

Now, lets get those lights fitted in!!

 

When positioning the lights bear in mind that it is probably best to have the battery box at the bottom of the letters...

 If you are satisfied that the lights will stay in place by just pushing them in, then proceed...however if you would like to secure the lights into the cardboard holes...wrap a tiny strip of double sided tape around each individual light before pushing it through the hole, like I did, or you can use a few drops of superglue to secure the lights (I figured this could get a bit messy, as this part can be a bit fiddly...It is no fun gluing your fingers together with superglue...believe me, I've been there!!).

Tuck the wire under the little lip around your letters as best as you can...ideally the letters should sit flat on a surface...cut a little channel in the cardboard where the wire needs to come out for the battery box.

With the lights now pushed in, cover the back of your letters with some double sided tape, turn over and use your scalpel to cut away any excess...

 Peel away the backing of the double sided tape and position your letters on a piece of wood...I painted mine black for the occasion!!

And there you have it: DIY spooky marquee sign...just in time for Halloween!!

My little skull was a cheap plastic one that I gave a quick make over with a can of black spray paint and some "goldfinger"....

...and I've changed out my guerrilla embroidery for some spooky ghosts and a blood curdling "eeeeek"...

If you like my little hanging ghosts, I will show you how in my next post...it will only take you 10 minutes....

Now, I best start digging out our party decorations and hit the shops for to stock up on sweets...I secured 3 big pumpkins from the depleted stock at Sainsbury's yesterday...so I am ready to start carving!!

Mr is on music duty, choosing a spooky soundtrack for the occasion, and when I've finished rummaging around for last years party decs, I will be spending the rest of the day thinking up wicked party games for the little ones...

Little miss Moo is getting soo excited.....and so am I!!

xxx

June