DIY Marquee Letters

Updated on June 12, 2024

DIY Marquee Letters. I created some DIY marquee letters to decorate for the holidays. Shop at ConsumerCrafts.com to purchase craft supplies online.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Consumer Crafts. All opinions are 100% my own.

Remember a couple of weeks ago I shared my craft supply shopping trip to Consumer Crafts? Now, I get to show you what I made with the supplies I purchased! I created some DIY marquee letters to decorate for the holidays. First, I had to choose a word. Some of the ideas I had were – joy, peace, family, cheer, and Christmas. I settled on the word, ‘peace’. 

DIY Marquee Letters

Supplies needed:

• 8″ Paper Mache Letters (P, (2) E, A, C)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic paint – Spun Gold
• Darice Sparkle Tape – Gold Glitter Tape (4 rolls)
• Mini Globe Lights String
• X-ACTO Knife
• Paint brush

Step One: You will start by removing the back side of each of the paper mache letters. Carefully cut close to the edge with your craft knife.

Step Two: Paint the front edge with your gold paint.

I did two light coats. Since acrylic paint dries so quickly, I was able to add the second coat right away after I painted each of the five letters.

Step Three: Cover the sides of each letter with gold glitter tape. You will start by adding one layer of tape.

Next, you will add a second piece of tape directly next the first piece. The second piece will have excess hanging over the back of the letter. Wrap it around the letter to create a finished edge. You may have to add a little craft glue to keep the tape down in spots on the back.

Optional: You could easily skip the glitter tape and simply paint the entire letter, including the sides, gold. You could also add glue to the sides and cover the edges with gold glitter.

Step Four: Add your light bulb strand. Decide where you want each light to go. My strand of lights had 50 bulbs. Since I had five letters, this meant each letter could have ten light bulbs each. I marked where I wanted each light and cut a small ‘X’ with my X-ACTO knife. 

Then, I pushed my craft poker tool through the ‘X’ to create a hole. (You could also use a pencil for this step.)

Push each of the bulbs through hole you made from the back side of the letter towards the front.

Since you will end up pushing some of the cardboard towards the front, you need to flatten it out again. I found the edge of my craft knife worked well for this step. 

Tip: Plan out where you want your letters to connect. There was not enough strand between the bottom of the letter P and the bottom of the letter E, so I had to connect them towards the top. The strand was long enough to skip a hole and work my way back if needed to get all ten bulbs in each letter.

The little globe lights were perfect since marquee letters usually have round bulbs. Plus, having a brown strand blended in well with the gold letters.

Be sure to check out the Consumer Craft’s holiday catalog for some holiday craft inspiration! 

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