DIY Marquee: Merry

This season, we’re going to have a very merry Marquis Christmas. When we were looking for DIY projects for the wedding (I promise more to come), we saw a lot of other outdoor weddings had DIY marquee signs of the bride and groom’s last names. We recently took a trip up to Target, where I stumbled upon multi colored globe christmas lights! Most of the marquee signs used the outdoor globe/market lights. I was going to use C9 pointed old fashioned lights, until I saw these. They were perfect for the sign.

This project is going to require some quality time with an exact-o knife and zip ties and math skills. Depending on how many letters you’re going to use, you may need one or two stings of lights. M-E-R-R-Y has five letters and I used two strings (fifty lights total), with one light left over.

DIY Marquee: Merry

Supplies

• Globe lights (found in Target stores, but not online – sorry!)
• Paper Mache Letters (I used 12 inch)
• Exact-o Knife
• Package of 100 small zip-ties (you won’t use them all)
• Pen or pencil

Directions

1. You’re going to need to cut the face off of these paper mache letters. The inside of the letters are hollow. Using an exact-o knife, cut through the edges of the face of the letter.
2. Once your faces are cut off, decide how your string(s) of lights are going to be split up. I averaged about 10 lights per letter. Using a pen or pencil, mark circles on the back of the letters where you want to place your lights.
3. Using the exact-o knife, cut X’s through the middle of your marks. The X-cut should allow only the end of the bulb through. I suggest doing all of these X-cuts first so you can be done with the knife!
4. Bulb by bulb, you’re going to push through these X-cuts from the “face” side of the letters. The bulbs will be the only things “inside” the letters. Once abulbis pushed through, screwitonto the plug. Repeat until all bulbs are secure.
   • For this step, note where your plugs are. I started stringing with the Y first because the outlet was nearest the Y. If plug location is not an issue, string away!
   • You want to be strategic with your bulb stringing. Follow some kind of order so that it’s easy to move on to the next letter.
5. Once your bulbs are strung and screwed back onto the string, you’ll have a mess of wires in the back. Use the zip ties to clean up the wires and form them behind each letter so they remain hidden.
6. Plug in and enjoy the light!