Cactus Marquee Sign DIY - A Beautiful Mess

Hi, friends!! I am so excited to share the cactus marquee sign that we made for Kacey’s living room.

You know we love a good marquee sign around here. They’re so much fun to make. This one has LED lights that can be still or blink in different fun patterns! It was really fun making something custom for Kacey’s space. And don’t forget—you can EASILY change up this tutorial to make a different shape if you want something specially tailored to your personal style!

OK—ready, set, GO! Let’s make some light up signs! I’m passing it over to Collin now to share the steps with you!

Supplies:
– 4′ x 2′ x 1/2′ plywood
– jigsaw
-drill with various drill bits
-battery-operated globe string lights
-paint
–picture hangers and wire for mounting
-dowel rods (optional)
-wood glue
-medium and fine sandpaper
–mini wire nuts
-double sided tape

Use a pencil to trace out your designs on your piece of plywood. Since I can barely draw a straight line I had Elsie trace out a cactus on paper for me first. Next, cut out all of your designs with a jigsaw and take your sandpaper and smooth out the rough edges. It’s optional but if you’re hanging the cactus off a wall, take a dowel rod once you have your designs cut out and cut small 2″ pieces and glue them to the back of your sign as shown on the tall cactus above (the dowel rods give more space for your battery pack to be attached to the back).

Take your drill and drill holes every 1″ or 2″ for your lights.

Fasten your wire and picture hangers to the back of your sign and then paint your signs (you’ll probably need two coats of paint).

Gently pull off the plastic tops of the lights and insert the lights themselves into the holes through the back of your sign and reattach the tops on the front side. Since these lights are L.E.D, low voltage, and battery powered, you can cut the wire and splice them back together with your wire nuts to get your lights to make these left and right turns on the cactus and not have any awkward extra lights on the back of your sign. Just make sure all of your positive and negative wire are spliced together properly for it to work (don’t worry it won’t shock you!). Splicing these wires is completely harmless with how these lights are set up but do not attempt this with any other kinds of lights without consulting a professional electrician first. Next, take some double sided tape and tape your battery pack to the back of your sign.