Light Up Any Event with this Neon Custom Wooden Sign
Looking for a custom birthday gift or a fun wedding sign? Look no further! These lighted script signs are so fun and super easy to make!
Pro tip: you’ll probably want to get the 15ft light instead of the 9 foot because I literally didn’t have a single millimeter to spare and had to really plan out how to make it work without being too short. This really depends on how long the name or message you are making is.
Also note that each sign will be custom, so the size can be changed to fit your specific needs. My sign was approx 17” x 24” and my name stencil was approx 11.5” x 18”.
What you’ll need:
- Plywood cut to size (Most Home Depots will cut your wood to size for you if you just ask) I used a 2×4’ 5.2 mm Lauan Plywood because I was adding a frame.
- 1 – 1x2x6 pine board cut to the size of the frame
- 9ft or 15ft EL wire in your desired color. (I bought a pack of 5 different colors)
- Paint and/or stain (I used black acrylic paint and Rustoleum stain in American Walnut)
- Drill with 7/64 or 1/8 drill bit
- Cricut cut a stencil with desired wording (Go to dafont.com and choose your desired font. Download and install to your computer to use in Cricut design space)
- Superglue
Directions:
1. Cut plywood to size using a table saw or Skilsaw or have Home Depot employee cut to size before purchasing.
2. Sand one side before painting or staining. Paint or stain to the desired color and let dry. (If painting, lightly sand after the paint dries. This will help the stencil stick better.)
3. Cut 1×2 into 4 pieces for frame and sand all sides. The length of each side will vary depending on the size of your sign. I cut mine slightly longer than the size of plywood because I like the plywood to sit just below the edge of the frame and it makes it less noticeable once hung and will hide any imperfections in the edges of the plywood.
4. Design and cut stencil to the desired size. Mine was approx 11.5 by 18. (I use Oracal 813 for all my stencils) Weed out the inside of the letters. Transfer to wood with transfer tape.
5. Dab paint onto stenciled letters using the foam brush. (I usually do 2-3 coats and let dry at least 1 hour in between each coat.)
6. Remove stencil and touch up any areas that may need it.
7. Map out where you want to drill holes for the lighted wire. Once fully dry, drill holes.
8. Starting from the back, insert the wire and glue down in 1-inch sections at a time. (The glue will dry quickly and make sure your finger doesn’t get stuck to the wire. I may or may not have done this.)
9. If you have any excess wire you can trim it at the end. Insert batteries into the battery pack and turn it on to make sure it works.
10. Admire your beautiful piece of art!
A couple of things I learned along the way:
- The lighted wire will make a sort of buzzing noise when turned on. You will only really notice if it’s quiet where the sign is displayed.
- Making sure you weld the font before cutting will make it all one seamless word.
- If you are not adding a frame to the sign, you will want plywood that is a little thicker, I would suggest 1/4 inch.
- The cheap superglue works best. I bought about 3 or 4 different types of fancy glue including Gorilla Glue and it didn’t dry quick enough. The cheaper one worked the best because it dried quicker, and who doesn’t love cheap?! Also, make sure you don’t get said glue on your fingers then touch the wire. I would know.
- The Cricut will only cut stencils with a max size of 11.5” by 23.5”. If you want your sign to be bigger you may have to cut individual letters on different mats and attach each letter individually.
- If you paint the sign instead of staining, I always dab on a coat of paint over the stencil in whatever color my background is. This will help keep the paint from bleeding when you apply the desired color for letters.