Merry Christmas outdoor sign

Don Baer

Moderator
Staff member
With the success with the Halloween Witch I have decide to make a few Christmas decoration for the outside of the house. The first will be a sign to go above the entrance to the house.
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The sign will simple by the words Merry Christmas and will be painted blue. The letters will be backlit with blue lights similar to the witch to produce a halo effect.
Merry Christmas.jpg
I next need to figure out the size of the letter to cut out. By scaling the picture of the arch to the proper dimension to use as a scale I can then insert the SVG file of the message and determine the maximum size that the lettering can be.
Christmas Arch v1.jpg
so it looks like 12 1/4 inches is the max. I want the letters to be clearly visible from the street so bigger is better.

Next I take the svg and create a fusion sketch. I know the the Y in merry will drop down below the rest of the letter so I scale the SVG file to 11 inch letter height. This make the overall length 99 inches and divides the lettering into three smaller sections that are very easily cut on my CNC.


Merry Christmas v1.png
I'll mount the whole thing on a single backing board but more on this later. I still have plenty of the 1/2 MDF left over so I will use it for the sign. I did discover that it is outdoor MDF and with paint it should be fine in the weather for the few weeks that it will be out. As a side note several neighbors saw the witch and when they saw me making measurement for this project they have expressed an interest in getting signs made for their house so who know maybe a cottage industry forming here.
 
I had to work yesterday and had honey dos this morning so I just had time to get a coat of paint on the sign. LOML picked the color. I still need to paint the back white. I also cut out a bunch of 1" standoffs so I can mount the letter on the mounting board that will provide the support. This week while I am out I'll pick up a string of blue light to put on the back of the letters.
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That really looks nice..... Wish I had your Christmas Spirit,,,,,, my wife does also... So often is just the two of us,,, so I just can't get too excited.... This year it will definitely be just the two of us... When my wife finds out what I just ordered myself for Christmas.... it may only be one here for Christmas!!!!!
 
That really looks nice..... Wish I had your Christmas Spirit,,,,,, my wife does also... So often is just the two of us,,, so I just can't get too excited.... This year it will definitely be just the two of us... When my wife finds out what I just ordered myself for Christmas.... it may only be one here for Christmas!!!!!
really Paul it just the two of us also. I do it because I enjoy sharing the season with my neighbors. After I really can't see it unless I leave the house...lol
 
really Paul it just the two of us also. I do it because I enjoy sharing the season with my neighbors. After I really can't see it unless I leave the house...lol
I live in the country, on a private road.... My neighbors don't easily see what I do... least they have never complained when I run outside in my skivvies.....!!!:woohoo:
 
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