DIY Carnival Marquee Letters
This project made by Karen, the bride from this gorgeous wedding, has to be one of my favorite DIY projects for any wedding. I had this tutorial bookmarked from Design Sponge, but I love how Karen put her twist on it inspired by these marquee letters sold at Urban. Love the vintage carnival feel to her final project! She used foam board (similarly to this DIY hand-lettered chalk sign), so it’s buttery to cut. The red background, large round bulbs and serif font choice really makes the carnival style come to life.
What you’ll need:
- foam board and poster board, 2 sheets of each
- spray paint (metallic silver and red)
- G50 light bulbs (bought here, but also found in stores like here) *the bulbs pictured below were not the actual bulbs used in the final product – they are plastic ones found here
- hot glue
- C9 stringers (like these)
- printed letters (use serif font of your choice to achieve the same look) to desired size (just remember they need to fit your foam board!)
- cutting mat and x-acto knife
Karen first made a mockup with the wrappers and one with trial string lights:
Instructions:
Trace the printed letters onto the foam board to cut your letter shapes. With a pencil, mark the center of your letters for where the bulbs will go. The spacing of the bulbs will vary depending on how large your letters will be, so play around before cutting to determine what looks best. Make small holes on the center of each letter large enough to fit the outer rim of bulb sockets (to replicate these these vintage 20th century carnival signs) Here‘s a great tip on how to cut the circles on foam board. Spray paint your letters in rusty-red. Cut 4-5 inch wide strips of poster board and spray paint both sides in metallic silver. Glue the edges of you letters with your “metal” strips. Place the bulbs from the back and you’re done.
For a more industrial look, you can patina the background of the letters with different layers and finishes of silver and white paint with a brush!
Top photo by Paul Von Rieter
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love these! wish I had seen this sooner for my son’s vintage circus 1st birthday this weekend.
Not sure where I’m going to put them, but I’m going to make these for my house! Love them SO much!
Love these! So fun.
I was recently just thinking how to make this after browsing the christmas lights at Target! Now I can just follow directions! I love the look of these.
Oh my goodness, this is just lovely and fun! Thank you for sharing… bookmarking this for future reference! C:
I’ll definitely try this out ! Thanks for this.
This is so Cool ! I’ll definitely make something like this during my wedding day. Thanks !
these look amazing! now I need an excuse to make them…
Wow, I love these. So great looking- very fun!
Oh this is just brilliant! Thanks so much for the tutorial.
Wow, I love these!
What a wonderful idea!
Thank you for sharing!
Leticia
So cool ! I really want to do it ! What font did you use, it is very perfect for this DIY ? Thanks
This is such an inventive (and cheap) way to make marquee letters! I love the look of them! I do have one question/concern: how well does the paper handle the heat from the bulbs? Is there any danger of flammability with the spray painted paper and is there a time limit to how long you would suggest leaving them lit?
Thank you!
omgoodness, i am in love with this! i will SO be making some of these! (then using them in our home!)
Do you think there’s a way to not use metal , but something durable so we could use/keep it outdoors?
This would be super cute with Christmas lights! & EZ!
@ Erin – did you ever get any response re: flammability?
These bulbs are HOT!! I made one letter to test, but I’m a little scared….
I love these! I wish I had time to get that done before my daughter’s wedding, but too much on my plate right now.
Why not use wooden letters with Christmas lights?
Just wondering what the font is that you used, it’s really nice