Let me start off by
saying, this lighted peace sign is one of the coolest things I’ve ever
made! I love how it turned out and it
was really pretty simple to make!
First, let me share
with you my inspiration. A few months
ago I was browsing around on Mod Cloths website when I saw this:
I instantly fell in
love, but for $90, no thanks! But, I did
think that I could possibly make something like that. Then the next day I was in Hobby Lobby and
saw that they have unfinished wood peace signs.
And the light bulb turned on!
I thought, all I have
to do is drill some holes, stick some lights in, and I’ll have a groovy peace
light all my own! It took a little more
work than just that, but I love my end result!
Want to make your
own? It does require a little bit of
woodworking, so you’ll need to have a drill and sandpaper. Don’t be intimidated by that though, this isn’t
hard to make!
Okay, so here is what
you need:
Two
Wooden Peace Signs: I got mine at Hobby Lobby. They had two sizes, 20” diameter and 10”
diameter. I used the 10” for this. (The Mod Cloth light is 20”).
Balsa
Wood: Balsa wood is a lightweight, flexible wood
commonly used for hobby crafts (model cars, planes, etc.). I also got this at Hobby Lobby (you won’t
find this at a place like Home Depot, if you don’t have a Hobby Lobby around
try a hobby store). The balsa wood I
used is thin, about 1/4” thick and 1” wide.
I recommend getting at least 3 strips in case you snap one while
bending.
I should also give my
husband some credit here, I had never heard of balsa wood but he suggested it
for this project, and it took it from meh to awesome!
LED
Christmas Lights: I recommend using battery operated lights so
that you aren’t tied to an outlet. I
found that regular Christmas lights were too bulky and wouldn’t tape down well,
but the mini-lights I used were very flexible and lightweight. I got them at Target. Whatever you use, make sure the lights are
LED so they don’t overheat.
Wood
Stain or Paint: I stained my wood a color called
Espresso. Painting this a bright color
for a kids room would also be cute.
Other:
Drill, Gorilla Glue, masking tape, clamps, wooden spacers (optional),
and a groovy sense of craftiness!
Alright, let’s get
started! First thing to do is mark on
one of the wood signs where you want to drill your holes. I made 19 holes in mine. Then clamp the sign down to a sturdy surface
and start drilling the holes.
Sorry for the poor
lighting in these pics, it was 20 degrees outside and I wasn’t about to open
the garage door for more light. Anyway,
make sure you use a drill bit that makes a big enough hole for your lights to
poke through. I did not have a big
enough drill bit, but I found that after drilling the hole I could push a
screwdriver through the hole and get the perfect size.
Using the right drill
bit size to begin with would obviously be easier, but this worked for me! I also made a cut out on the bottom of the
other peace sign for the light cord to go through. I’ll show a picture of that later.
Next, sand down the
rough edges and stain both the peace signs.
While those dry, you can get started on shaping the balsa wood. Balsa wood is very flexible to begin with,
but soaking it can get it to bend even further.
I soaked a strip of balsa in hot water for about 2 hours. I just put it in my bathtub with some weight
to hold it down.
Just check on it to
make sure the water doesn’t leak out, because I found that once this is soaked
and dried, it won’t become flexible again even after another soak. So, after soaking for two hours the balsa
should be flexible enough for you to bend it into a circle. Do this very carefully, and if you hear the
wood cracking put it back in the water for another half hour. You should be able to get it bent around your
peace sign with no cracking.
I bent the balsa
around my peace sign and used a clamp to hold it in place. Let this dry for at least 24 hours. While that is drying you can get started on
the balsa wood for the inside of the peace sign. You could skip this step if it seems like too
much work, but it really gives the finished sign a nice polished look, plus you
don’t see any exposed lights.
Measure all the inside
parts of the peace sign and cut the right sizes from the balsa wood (this is
soft enough to cut with scissors). For
the curved parts I cut the wood to the right size and soaked it, then clamped
it to a bowl to give it a soft curve.
Let that dry for 24 hours as well.
Once all that balsa
wood is dry, it’s time to do some gluing! Make sure to glue the balsa pieces to the back
peace sign (the side without the holes). I used Gorilla Glue, it is my trusted
companion. I recommend having a helper
for this part, I tried to do this by myself and the wood kept springing away before
I could get a book on it to hold it down.
But I managed! Here is how it
will look with all the pieces in place:
As you can see, my pieces aren't perfect, but once it's finished you don't even notice. Once you have all the pieces
glued weigh it down with your strongest book.
Strongest book, get
it!? I know, I’m funny. You can see in the above picture the cut out
I made for the light cord to go through. Make
sure you leave a space like this in the balsa for your light cord to come
through!
Let that set for 24
hours as well. Now it’s time to start
placing the lights! Try to lay the
lights out in a way that stretches them so they don’t bulk up. This makes it easier to tape down. For example, I put a light in every other
hole and went around twice, does that make sense? Once you start doing it you’ll see what I
mean. Tape it all down with masking tape
to hold it in place. Make sure that the
end of the light comes out the bottom.
You can see in that
picture that I glued down some wooden spools as spacers, they weren’t necessary
though.
When the glue on the
other half has finished setting, stain the balsa wood to match. Let that dry and then glue the whole thing
together! Just put a layer of glue on
all the edges and carefully lay the two pieces together. Lay that heavy book on top again and let the
glue dry for 24 hours. And then be
amazed at your awesome craftiness!
All the lights are encased, so you don’t see
any wires from the sides. I did have
some glue peep out, and my pieces aren’t perfectly aligned, but that’s part of
the homemade-ness of it that I like!
Here’s the cord coming out the bottom:
And here it is in all its
groovy glory on my mantel:
I love it! It turned out better that I had
imagined! And I love the way the lights
perk up the mantel.
I hope you try this
out! If you do send me pictures, I’d
love to see other versions of this! You
could use this process with wooden letters, animal shapes, ooh the
possibilities! I love possibilities!
Thanks for reading!
