# Current Project: Freak Show Marquee Sign



## pmpknqueen (Jan 22, 2010)

Hi guys!

So I decided, since my Halloween Party this year is going to be Haunted Freak Show, I would make a few props and then share them with ya'll!

First project: Freak Show Marquee Sign! And I decided to share my progress!

*SUPPLIES:*

Foam Board (1 sheet black, 1 sheet white)
1 Exacto Knife
1 String of white Christmas Lights (any kind)
Red Spray Paint
Other Supplies: pencil, ruler, tape

First, decide what kind of design you want the base of your sign to be. I just kind of free handed something and cut it out with an exacto knife, but you can get ideas from the internet.








Next, decide what kind of letters you want. I spent time going to different craft stores first to look at different kinds of letters but in the end I decided to cut my own from foam board because I knew had some awesome carnival fonts on my computer 
When you decide what kind of font you want, size it appropriately and print them until you get the size you want. 















Then prepare them for tracing on the white foam board! I used some tape on the back of the letters so they wouldn't move around when I traced.















Then of course, next go through the pain-staking process of cutting out each detailed letter! Whew! 








That's what I've got for now! More progress pics as I go! Next will be spray painting the letters! 

*MORE TO COME...*


----------



## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Looking good and pretty simple. !!!


----------



## pmpknqueen (Jan 22, 2010)

matrixmom said:


> Looking good and pretty simple. !!!


I'm trying to make it simple  I feel like making it out of foam board makes it lighter and easier to hang where I please


----------



## pmpknqueen (Jan 22, 2010)

_*UPDATE!!!!!*_

Here's the next step: Spray Painting!
Paint your letters red with any kind of red spray paint you want. Or, you could do any color you wanted really. Let them dry.








Now, here's something extra I decided to do, but you don't have to if you don't want to. I thought the sign needed a little something extra so I painted around the edge with some gold acrylic paint. Then after I had my letters placed I made some little decorative swirls on the sides too. Just free handed it. 






















Next, you'll want to glue down the letters. I just used a hot glue gun and put little dots of glue around the outside of the letters, just at the outer points because I knew I was going to be poking holes through the middles of the letters eventually.
Then, once all your letters are glued, use a pencil to figure out where your going to want all the lights to go and poke lightly through to make a sort of guide. I just eye balled it and did what I thought would be aesthetically pleasing.








That's all so far....I'll post next when I finish the next step which is poking the lights through the back! 

*TO BE CONTINUED....*


----------



## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

I love it...


----------



## pmpknqueen (Jan 22, 2010)

*PART THREE....*

Here are the last few steps to finish the sign! 

What to do next, after you've established where you want the holes, is to poke all the way through your foam board. I used a knitting needle that I had lying around because it was the perfect thickness for the lights going through. I just poked through the front of the board until I made it through, and then went around to the back and poked through the back as well just to make it open enough for the lights to go through.

Then I just proceeded to put all the lights through! For my sign, I needed 2 sets of 50 lights and didn't even use them all. I just used standard Christmas lights, nothing fancy and they showed through the other side exactly how I wanted. They were the perfect length!








Don't forget to tape down some of the lights on the back so they stay put. I only really needed to tape down the place where I connected the two strings.








Here's the finished product! Don't forget to test your lights to make sure they do turn on! 








(Sorry that last photo is so fuzzy. I think my phone was having trouble focusing because of the lights being on.)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and hope it was easy enough to follow! I will definitely post pictures of the sign when it's up at my party this year. To hang it, I just plan to poke a couple of holes in the top and feed some string through, but hang it or use it in any way you like if you decide to make your own! 

*HAPPY HALLOWEEN!*


----------



## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

Thanks PumpkinQ! It came out really fantastic and easy peasy as well. My kind of project.


----------



## Hellminsk (Jun 13, 2016)

I like it


----------



## xxScorpion64xx (Oct 15, 2011)

That turned out very nice, will the lights be steady all the time or flickering?


----------



## punkineater (Apr 26, 2014)

Love it, love that you kept it simplified and light weight!

punkineater in the for steal


----------



## Hilda (Jul 31, 2011)

Not THAT is clever! FANTASTIC job!!!! Love it.


----------



## Guywithmonsters (Oct 13, 2015)

Very cool


----------



## Paint It Black (Sep 15, 2011)

Looks fantastic!


----------



## katshead42 (Aug 5, 2010)

Holy crap that looks amazing! I'm totally going to make this, thank you very much for sharing.


----------



## pmpknqueen (Jan 22, 2010)

xxScorpion64xx said:


> That turned out very nice, will the lights be steady all the time or flickering?


For now they are steady. I might eventually get them flickering tho. Since each word has a different stream of lights it'll be fairly simple, just getting them to either alternate or go together will be the tricky part haha. I'll get a video if I end up going the flickering route.


----------



## demongod (Sep 16, 2010)

Since you have 2 strings of lights, you could use one of the Arduino Four-Banger controllers without the audio part to at least flash each word, one at a time. Or if you get crazy, go with 4 sets of lights (2 on each word) and see what happens. I havent used one of these yet myself and I am not sure if you can setup the relays for a sequence when it isnt triggered. If anyone can correct me, please do so. UPDATE: I had parts for this controller on order for a few weeks now and finaly got them, a seqeunce for the relays can be used only during a trigger. So not really usable for this, sorry.

Another way, over the top maybe, use one of the 4 channel DMX dimmers. Some of them have built in sequences and you dont need to control it with DMX. Earlier this summer, I found a working one on Ebay for $30 shipped. I must have lucked out because right now, the cheapest one I found was $75.


----------



## CreepinItReal (Jun 23, 2016)

This is great!!! Love how simple it is- but it turned out great


----------

