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Make a Quick Outdoor Wood Marquee Letter (DIY Tutorial)!

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outdoor diy wood marquee light

This month for our Lowes project we were challenged to create Outdoor Art for our home. I love these challenges because they really make me get creative. And I’ve been working hard to get my yard fixed up this year, so this was a challenge I was ready to tackle!

beadboard marquee heart

One of my favorite projects I’ve made so far this year was the beadboard marquee heart . I love that project, but I wanted to try doing an outdoor version that was quick to make to add a little light and excitement to my patio area.

outdoor wood marguee tutorial at tatertots and jello

Here’s how I made this quick Outdoor Marquee Letter:

wood marquee letter how to

  1. I chose a handy-sized piece of inexpensive plywood from Lowe’s. I wanted a rustic look, so I did not choose a premium grade (you certainly could!). The grade I chose would be the kind you’d use in construction, not in fine furniture.
  2. I picked up a 10-light strand of outdoor globe lights, and, anticipating that I might want to change the colors, bought 3 4-packs of frosted, 25-watt, small candelabra-based globe bulbs. (They usually have a picture on them of them being used in a bathroom vanity light).
  3. I laid the strand of lights along the board to get an idea of how big I could make the letter — an H in my case — and still use all of the 10 lights in a row without having to backtrack with the wires. Turns out I could make my letter about 36″ high and about 18″ wide, with the wire making kind of an “N” shape in the back.
  4. We then cut a 36″ by 18″ rectangle from the larger board using a table saw. I hate table saws; they always scare me.
  5. Overcoming my fear, we used the table saw a bit more to make the vertical cuts in the middle of the H. To make the horizontal cuts, you could use a jigsaw, but we had a RotoZip handy that we had from a previous project, so we used that. (We attached a straightedge guide board to the piece we were about to remove to help us make a straight(ish) cut.)
  6. That left us with a big letter H! At this point, we stained and sprayed polyurethane on the board — but I recommend you don’t do it at this stage. Instead, now it’s time to mark the holes.
  7. Lay out your lights along the letter again, first estimating their placement and then measuring their placement exactly. In my case, I knew that the holes would be centered horizontally, and then about 7.5″ inches apart on the vertical sides of the H, and centered along the cross bar. I marked these with a pencil.
  8. Get out your drill bits and hold them up near your lights. Ideally, what you want is to create a tapered hole for each light, larger at the front and smaller at the back. If you are really tricky, you can leave only a thin piece of the plywood that’s big enough for the base of the bulb to pass through and still make electrical contact. From that smaller hole, the hole will have to widen enough to accommodate the bulb. Unlike the more complex way I did the fancier marquee earlier this year, the idea here is to let the bulb and the socket hold the bulb in place. I used a combination of Forstner drill bits and a chamfer bit I stole from my router set. It took some trial and error, and even then it was not perfect. But again, remember the bulb will cover most of the imperfections in your drilling!
  9. Sand the wood to whatever degree of polish you prefer, stain and apply the spray polyurethane. Let it dry after each stage.
  10. Attach the bulbs and sockets/wire to your letter, using a shallow staple in the back to hold the wire in place. I used a staple gun, but you can use anything you have handy, even duct tape! Be careful not to staple through the wire. At the end of the wire, use a small piece of electrical tape to cover over the plug holes to keep moisture out.
  11. As a last step, you’ll want to make your marquee letter stand out from the wall or fence you hang it on, so grab some scrap wood – I grabbed some leftover 2×2 from a previous project – and attach it at strategic places on the back of your letter. In my case, it was easy to put a small, 4-inch piece on the top and bottom of each side of the H. I used both wood glue and screws to hold them in place.
  12. On top of the top two back brace pieces, I attached picture hanging hooks so that I can easily hang the marquee letter on two nails. (yes, we used a level when we hung it!)
  13. If you find your marquee letter is too bright, you can attach a dimmable extension cord!

(This is a RotoZip:)

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momand ella with the outdoor marquee letter

I love the way it turned out! I think it would be fun to make a number too — maybe a 6? And I snapped a few pictures of my cute mom with Ella while she was out visiting this week. So fun!

outdoor wood marquee letter at tatertots and jello

I love the glow it gives my patio at night!

You can follow along with Lowe’s on Facebook for more great ideas and sign up for their FREE Creative Ideas Magazine with TONS of great DIY  ideas and instructions!!

lowes creative

Have a CREATIVE Day! 

xox

Thanks Lowes for the gift cards to make this project. 

 

 

 

Thanks to Lowe’s for the gift cards to make this project. 

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Comments

  2. claudette says

    Well who doesn’t love a big over sized marquee letter, right. So of course i was drawn to this post. But . . . . what made my heart skip a beat was that RotoZip – hubba hubba!

  3. Haley says

    Where did you find your string lights? I’ve been having trouble finding any that have 10 bulbs, and the ones I’ve found online say for indoor or DRY outdoor use (want to make sure they’re safe to use outside!). Thanks!!

    • Jen says

      Haley » These are “patio” lights from Target. They were originally green and blue clear — and I didn’t like the way they looked, so I replaced them with hardware-store bulbs in a lower wattage opaque white. Let me know if I can help more!

  11. michelle says

    Love this Jen! It’s funny because I have 2 strands of outdoor globe lights that I recently pulled out of our basement. I haven’t hung them yet because I wanted to do something different this summer. THIS may just be “that something different” 🙂 Awesome job and thank you for sharing !

    • Jen says

      Thanks Kelsey!! You are so sweet!! It has been so fun having my mom visiting. We are having such a great time!

      xoxoxo

  15. lucinda says

    Hello Jennifer,

    Thank you for the post and all your creative ideas. I’m curious where you plugged this in? I don’t see a cord, or was it Photoshopped out?

    Thanks.
    Lucinda

    • Jen says

      Hi Lucinda!

      I was able to tuck the cord into the groove of the siding and it almost hid it. But the wall that I hung it on is actually my garage, so I could drill a hole behind the letter and put the cord through and plug it into a plug in the garage if I want to.

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

      xoxo

    • Jen says

      Hi Shelly!

      Thanks so much!! And thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreciate it!

      xoxo

  24. Jacy says

    Love this Jen!! I’ve been scheming about what I should create for my patio. We have a swing and that’s about it haha I’d love to make something similar…thanks for the inspiration! Great photos, your mom is adorable 🙂

    • Jen says

      Hi Jacy!!

      Thanks so much!! You should make one!! If you do, let me know. I would love to feature it!

      xoxo

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