I love marquee lights and succulents. Need I say more? I received these awesome marquee letters by Heidi Swapp c/o Michaels last week to create something with them and this is what I made.
These letters are so fun and it was nice to not have to make marquee letters by hand for once. They are on the smaller side, but they are very perfect for decor and table top decorations. Each letter comes with an extra cut out paper that you can cover in glitter, paint, etc. and just slip it right in. Or of course, you can also trace it and add in some new paper. I wanted to make something to go in my bedroom using my husbands and my name’s first initial, hence the W (for Will) and J (for Jess). I wanted to add some more greenery to our room and new that adding real succulents to this project might be hard to keep up. Fortunately, there are so many faux succulent plants that look very real now a days.
Here are the basic supplies you will need to make a similar project:
- Marquee Letters
- Frame big enough for your letters to fit in
- Chicken Wire
- Staple Gun and Staples
- Wire Cutters
- A Piece of Felt
- Scissors
- Faux Succulents
- Moss (kind from craft store)
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue
I first started by stapling on chicken wire to the back of the frame. I then cut off the excess wire on the edges, pushed down the exposed ends, and hot glued a small piece of felt over every sharp end. It helps prevent the wall from getting scratched and hurting yourself on the wire.
My frame was originally white, but I chose to spray paint it gold (I used Krylon Premium Metallic 18 KT Gold).
Now put your marquee letters together. Decide if you want to decorate them or not before adding the lights. I tried adding glitter, paint, and different papers, but I felt it kind of hid the letter when surrounded by all the plants. So I kept mine just plain white. Determine how you want to arrange your letters and then hot glue them to the chicken wire. I glued every wire that touched the outer sides of the letters. It really holds well but also comes off easily if you make a mistake. Like I did. I reglued this W three times. Sigh…..But, I finally got it on right haha. Also, make sure the battery pack is sticking out so you can get to it easily to add/replace batteries and turn off and on easily. Don’t worry, they tuck right into the wires at the end.
Gather many faux succulents/greenery and a big bag of moss.
I first played around with the bigger plants to see where I wanted them to be. Then I hot glued them in place. I tried for a natural “things are growing crazy everywhere” kind of look. Keep a few of the smaller succulents out if you like to add as fillers after you put the moss on. Tip: Work with frame sitting up. It allows things to sit as they will once on a wall and the ends can stick through the back until it’s time to cut them off.
Now just add the moss on. I literally just stuck it on. I made it as flat as possible and tried to use the pieces instead of the very loose stuff. It stayed in place very well. Make sure to fill in all the extra areas like inside the letters and all.
Flip the frame over and hot glue over the wires where the moss is. I felt like the moss was in pretty well since this won’t be a moving piece, but the extra hold is good. Use your wire cutters to trim off extra ends of the plants that stick out too far. I tried to stick some plant ends back through the wires where possible too.
Clean all your mess up.
Add the batteries and see how it all looks. It truly has a glamourous feel to it. It makes me think of those fabulous hotels in California I see in pictures on instagram. This would be great for a wedding decoration that would later be perfect as home decor. Would be great for a party as well. What would you make with these marquee letters?
-Jess
This post was created in partnership with Michaels. All opinions stated are my own. Affiliate links have been used. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that support Happy Together.
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