I usually knock out one big Christmas project every year. Last year it was my oversized burlap wreath. And, this year — it is my lighted Christmas Marquee Sign!

This is it, but before we take a closer look, let’s back, back, back it up, and look at how we got here. (This post may contain affiliate links. This means, should you end up making a purchase, advertisers give me a small percentage of that sale, at absolutely NO EXTRA COST to you. Click here for full disclosures).

It all started with this big guy. The painting, not the kid. The Kiddo is helping out with scale. I found the painting at the HFH Restore for 20 beans. And it was big. I’ve got my hands full this time.

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SUPPLIES:

• Thrifted Art
• Foam Board
• Christmas Lights
• Spray Paint
• Hobby Foam Paper
• Craft Knife
• Steel Ruler
• Glue Gun
• Craft Glue
• Glitter
• Drill
• Spade Bit

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First, I planned my marquee letters. If you’re attempting this at home, you could save a bit of time with pre-made cardboard letters, but the nice thing about making custom letters, is you can have custom sizing.

I started by printing out my letters on regular paper, cutting them out, and then tracing them onto foam core board.

Cut them out of the foam core, and you have these beauties.

Then, I cut strips of hobby foam paper, to make my “metal” edges.

The great thing about the foam paper, is it doesn’t rip, it shapes well, and glues wonderfully to the edges of the foam core.

Rustoleum hammered effect spray paint, helped finish the look.

And, soon, I had a stack of “metal” marquee sign letters. Yay me!

Next, I planned the placement of the letters, on my old mountain scene painting.

Here is a good tip! I attached the letters with craft glue, but I supported each letter with a few large dabs of hot glue. That allowed the letters to be held tight against the painting, while the craft glue sets up. It worked great!

Make sure you check your spelling!!

Here’s another tip… I marked my lightbulb holes with beads first. That way, I could step back, and readjust the positions… because once you’ve got your holes drilled… there’s no going back!

Ok. Holes drilled. I used a small spade bit. (Take a look at your Christmas lights, and judge what size of a bit you will need. You want the light to pop through, but with a snug fit. You don’t want the hole so big that it allows free space and light around the positioned Christmas light). Worked pretty well, no letters popped off, so I know the glue was still working. Ready to flip it over and attach lights.

I used these great LED cube lights (in a string of 100, from Canadian Tire). They gave that perfect marquee look. I moved hole to hole dabbing hot glue and then pushing each light through the hole. Worked like a charm!

Once I had the lights in, I traced out my “&” and the Christmas balls on paper, and used the shapes to plan where to place my glitter objects.

When I was happy, everything got a healthy dose of craft glue.

And, then you guessed it… GLITTER! I was up to my eyeballs in glitter. I think my kitchen floor still has a little extra sparkle. Oh well, makes it look more clean, and that’s a win for me!

I wanted to add “dreaming of a White Christmas”, in a freehand painted font, so I printed text out in actual size, just as a guide for placement. This helped me with size and position… I have a tendency for my letters to get larger as I go along, when free handing… so this was a big help.

The only step left? Plug it in! And, that was pretty rewarding…

The hammered spray paint really adds that metal feel, without any weight.

The glitter, is glittering perfectly…

Oh, and I used ribbon for my ornaments, the bows give them a nice 3D effect!

It has a really nice relaxing night time glow.

Hmm. Now I just need that mantel I’ve been talking about. Fingers crossed we’ll get that up for Christmas!!