How To: Make Your Own Illuminated Vintage Movie Marquee

How to Make Your Own Illuminated Vintage Movie Marquee

Watching movies will always be one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I can spend an entire day watching movies and not feel the slightest bit guilty about it. You can learn from movies, so don't ever let anyone tell you that you're wasting time.

Now, if I was über rich and baller, I would for sure have a small movie theater in my house. It's a no-brainer. But, since I am neither rich nor baller, I am going to have to settle for something a little more realistic.

I came across this homemade vintage movie marquee and figured other movie lovers out there might want to try and make one themselves.

The folks who made this super legit marquee used 1/8" thick foamcore board for the letters, which you can find online or in an art supply store, but cardboard is perfectly adequate and much cheaper.

You will also need a box cutter, an X-Acto knife, poster board, scotch tape, packing tape, ruler, and spray paint. Bulb lights are optional if you want your marquee to light up like a real theater's.

The process is time consuming, but pretty simple. Just cut out the letters according to the template, making holes for the light bulbs if you're using them.

Then attach liners made from the poster board with scotch tape. Once you've done that, spray paint the whole thing and attach the bulbs and you're all set.

For complete instructions on how to build your own movie marquee, check out the tutorial over on Oh Happy Day.

Of course, you can make a marquee to say anything. "ManCave" for the basement game room, "Happy B-day" for the party, or a giant "Merry X-Mas" marquee for next year's holidays. The possibilities really are endless.

Any marquee creations of you own? Let us know in the comments section.