DIY Solar Power Vintage Arrow Light Up Marquee!


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6:00 AM



This was a super fun project to do with my
 11 year old scout in just a few hours!

 Do-it-yourself Marquee sign!
Nothing quite as awesome as a vintage style arrow in comic book red!

 I wanted to do a marquee sign for a long time...
but didn't want a sign I had to plug in...find wall space for...
or deal with cords and plugs.
Then I discovered Solar Power lights!  Yay!
So that was my only cost in this project, about $20.
You could use Christmas lights...or other string lights.

 We started with a scrap piece of plywood we found on the street.
It was about a foot and a half tall and 4 feet wide...

 I used some kraft paper and cut it to fit the board...
I folded it in half and then sketched out my pattern.
I cut it while it was folded so it would be symmetrical!
 like this!
 Then traced the arrow pattern onto the board.
 like so!
 Then my son used the dremel and we began cutting it out...
 The dremel wasn't cutting it well enough...or straight enough
 so we switched and cut it with the tablesaw!
(note: jigsaw is now on my list)
 Then we sanded all the rough edges...
 Marked where we wanted each light to go
Got a drill bit large enough to fit the green part, but not the bulb cover.
 And drilled 29 holes!
(yes, one of our lights is hidden...so the solar panel would sit above the sign)
 Sanded it all smooth and set it out to spray paint!
 Comic Book RED of course!
 After it dried...we roughed up the edges a bit...
 and went over them with stain
 like this!
 Took all the bulb covers off the lights,
 and stapled the lights on the backside of the wood.
 Then attached the bulb coverings--I love that they are plastic!
  Screwed on some screw eyes and wire for hanging!
 Like this...
 And, then, if I had a darling front porch...this would be the perfect little addition.
But our porch is small and ugly, so it's going on the back fence!
 With the solar panel exposed so we can get some sun!

 Great at as a photo prop too!

 Perfect-o!  And only a few hours in the making!
Pretty good for an 11 year old scout project!








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Comments

Oh I so love this! such a great use of solar light! You (and you 11 year old) did a super awesome job!
Unknown said…
Super cool! Love that it lights up!! Found you on: http://practicallyfunctional.com/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-60/
This is too too cool! You should recommend it as a Home Depot Do-it-herself or Kids-do-it project. Great job!
This is too cool! I love that you used solar lights! I have to find some of these. We made some marquis lights for my sons birthday but now I want to try again with solar.
Shelly said…
This is soo stinkin cool!!!!! Love it!! I found this on Tatertots and Jello! Please come share this on DIY Sunday Showcase! It's a party I cohost and I would love to see this on there!! And it's open now!!

Shelly
minettesmaze.blogspot.com
This is an awesome sign!! Love it!
What a great idea - I love it. I especially love that it's solar powered. Thanks for the inspiration! I found you on Shelly's blog at Minette's Maze.
Marie@InteriorFrugalista
Jenna said…
So, so, so adorable and genius!!! This is such a fun idea! Pinned!
What a great idea! There are so many variations you can make with this too. Thanks for sharing! Stop by my Friday's Five Features and link up this post (and others)! http://diy-vintage-chic.blogspot.com
Unknown said…
I think this vintage Marquee is easy to create as well as give a decent look too.

melbourne marquee
Unknown said…
Thanks for sharing this great idea system
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Engelhard said…
You could use Christmas lights... solarpanelslights.blogspot.com
Caezar said…
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