marquee diy

Have you had a chance to play with the new MarqueeLove from Heidi Swapp?

They are fun letters available at Michaels that come all white and ready for you to diy to your hearts content.

And that's just what I did. Today I have a little tutorial of how I altered a few letters for a gift for a 17 year old male teen.
If you have any 17 year olds in your life, you may well have an idea as to the challenge it can be to buy for that guy?
But this is what I am came up with...

The plan was to alter the 'N' and the 'arrow' to give it a faux vintage metal look.
I used:
metallic silver spray paint
black chalk paint
a wide bristly paint brush

First: the letters were spray painted with the metallic silver paint.
Make sure they dry well between coats.
It took about three good coats to get them covered as I liked them.

Next, take the bristly brush and your choice of black chalk paint...

...dry brush the black onto the painted letter.
To do this I would dip the paint brush into the paint, and then dab off as much as I could but still have some paint on the brush.

As I applied the black paint, I would take a rag and wipe off the excess paint.

You can see here the completed 'N' and then a bit of the before and after on the 'arrow'.

This is the end result before the lights were added. Did you know that each letter and icon comes with its own set of lights that are made specific for that light? It makes this marquee letter kit so easy and doable. Even IF the gift is for a guy.

Tada! and there you have it. Faux vintage metal letters ready for the giving.
I loved how these turned out and hope you found some inspiration here today.
Would love you to link me up with the letters that you diy!
and tag me on instagram too... @jamiepate ...share what you did with your Marqee Love.