Looking for a perfect photo backdrop or decoration? Check out these light up marquee letters! These letters are an incredible addition to parties, weddings, and more.
Unfortunately, I had a difficult time finding affordable and oversized letters to purchase online. If you are looking for a cheaper and customizable option, this guide is for you!
This guide will follow my process for making 4-ft tall GRAD light up letters. I’ve made similar letters before, and they are always a huge hit. To create, foam board is easy to find and work with, and the lights can be reused for other projects too!
Alternatively, you can customize with your own letters or skip the last few steps and fill with little balloons. Enjoy and have fun partying!
Table of Contents
Equipment, Materials, & Cost
Equipment
Since these letters are foam board, I used no heavy equipment that alternative DIY guides require (saws, staple guns, etc.) I did use a drill, but you can use something else instead. Here is the equipment I used:
- Hot Knife (Heated Exacto Knife)
- Hot Glue Gun
- Drill with 1/2″ Woodboring drill bit (optional)
Materials & Cost
For the materials, I listed the amounts and brands I recommend. Feel free to substitute with what you have or can find at your local stores! (Note – will update this section soon)
| Quantity | Material | Brand I used | Cost |
| 22-24 | 20″X30″ Foam Board | Readi-Board | $1.25/board |
| (optional) | Letter Template | Etsy | $ |
| ~92 | Sheets of printer paper | Any, scratch paper if you have | |
| Lights | Target (Link coming soon) | ||
| Hot Glue | |||
| White Duct Tape | Scotch Brand |
Luckily, I had many of the supplies and equipment at home. I spent about $XX to make these letters. Compared to renting or purchasing, this was a great deal! It was also a fun DIY project and can be reused many times.
Making the Letters: Step-by-Step Guide
Estimated Time: 13 hours
Note – the estimated time for these letters seems a little high, but this (realistically) included cleaning plus trial and error time. Overall, it took me about 3 hours to make each letter, plus 1 hour to drill the holes and add the lights!
See the video on Instagram HERE!!
- Before you begin
Gather all of your equipment and materials. I constructed each letter one at a time which worked well for me and my space.
- Loosely Tape
Loosely tape 4 foam boards together using Scotch tape. (We will later secure the boards together more securely, so only a few pieces needed on each edge.)
- Print & Tape Letter Template (Or Draw)
Next, print your first letter template on regular printer paper and lay out the papers on the foam board. (Alternatively, you can freehand, but I highly recommend using a template). After, tape the papers together and loosely on top of the foam board with Scotch tape.
- Cut the Foam Board – Letter Base
Once template is secured, use the hot knife to cut the foam board on the lines to create the letter base. You can remove scrap pieces and the printer paper from the template as you go. Make sure to do this on a mat or spare foam board to avoid damaging your surface or floor.
- Glue & Tape the Letter Base
Once you have the letter base cut out, remove the Scotch tape. Then, use hot glue and white duct tape to secure the pieces together. (You can also use the white duct tape before cutting, but doing after helps make the scrap pieces easier to handle)
- Cut the Foam Board – Letter Walls
Using scrap pieces from your letter and 1-2 extra foam boards, use the hot knife cut 5-in wide stripes. Then, trim the strips to make the walls of the letters.
- Glue the walls
Using hot glue, secure the walls to the letter base. Make sure to glue all edges. You may find it easier to do steps 6-7 at the same time. Make sure to hold the walls straight at a 90 degree angle until the hot glue cools.
- (Optional) Reinforce with Tape
Using white duct tape, reinforce the corners and edges. This is optional, but highly recommended – especially for corners and edges that might be less perfect. This will help improve the overall appearance and the overall structure.
- Repeat steps 2 – 8
Repeat steps 2-8 for the remaining of your letters.
- Mark the holes
Using a ruler, roughly mark where you will drill your holes for the lights. I used pencil to mark X’s roughly 6.5″ apart, since the distance between lights on my string was 8″. (Measure and adjust to fit the lights you purchased. My notes are below is to give you a rough starting point.)
- Drill the holes
Using a 1/2″ woodboring drill bit, drill your holes. Drill front to back for a cleaner look. The back will be messier, but that is ok since nobody should be seeing it. (Alternatively, you can cut holes with a hot knife or whatever else you have.)
- Clean up letters
After drilling, make sure to clean up the letters. Erase any leftover pencil marks and brush off the foam board bits.
- (optional) Add a protective coat
Add a protective coat to the letters. I used a clear matte spray enamel. (This was easy, but wasn’t my favorite. I will try something new next time to help protect the letters and make them last longer.)
- Insert the lights
Insert your lights by removing the plastic head, inserting in the hole, and resecuring the head on the bulb. If you are using only a single strand of lights like me, make sure to count and plan ahead of time. (See step 10 for my notes with a rough guide).
- Finishing touches & enjoy!
And you’re done! Add any finishing touches with white duct tape.
Check out all the letters assembled below:
Display Tips
Understandably, foam board is not as durable as wood or something sturdier. If you display inside, GRAD is stable enough to stay up on its own. You can also prop against a wall or chair if it is wobbling.
To display the light up letters outside, it is a little tricker – especially in the hot, humid Houston air. My top tips:
- Use an extension cord to make sure your letters light up! To save power and the life of the bulbs, we only plugged in around sunset. Before, it was too bright to see the lights, but it looked AWESOME once dark.
- Use garden stakes to insert into the ground. We taped a variety of sign and garden stakes to the back to insert into the grass.
- If you can, display them against a wall or where there is less wind and foot traffic. This will minimize the wind damage and potential damage from people running into the letters.
If you’d like to add a balloon arch, we created the arch first and secured it to the top of the assembled letters with string and tape after. Feel free to get creative!
Storage
Short term storage: Letters can be kept assembled and standing upright.
Long term storage: Remove the lights and store laying horizontal. They can be lightly stacked, and this will prevent further damage and warping. This step is extra important if you displayed outside with humidity or they experienced any wear and tear during display.
Note – this was learned from experience! We mistakenly tried to store long-term upright, but all letters experienced serious warping and damage.
Wrap Up
Hope you enjoy this DIY guide to making these giant light up letters! I had the best time making them, and it is a great decoration for photos and more. If you like this post, check out my other party-related posts below:
