Looking to add some high-stakes flair to your next event? This DIY Vegas Marquee Sign is a total show-stopper! I made this as the center focal piece for my Cupid’s Casino Themed Dinner Party, and I’m still obsessed with how it turned out (all that jazz!).
It’s surprisingly affordable and easy to make, even if it is a little time-consuming. Trust me, it is so worth it! This project is perfect for anyone who loves DIY decor that looks high-end but fits a moderate budget.
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What You’ll Need for Your DIY Vegas Marquee Sign
Materials
- Cupid’s Casino Marquee Sign Design File & Template on Etsy (LINK).
- 2 Red Metallic Poster Boards (if you can’t find these you can use a matte red poster board)
- 2 Gold Metallic Poster Boards
- White Vinyl (12”x 48” roll)
- Red Vinyl (12” x 12” sheet)
- Transfer Tape
- 2 8.5” x 11” Metallic Cardstock
- 2 12” x 12” Sheets of Glitter Gold Cardstock
- 25 Gold Gems (I used these from Michaels)
- Duct Tape
- Hot Glue Sticks
- Heart Marquee Light (optional but it adds a lot of flair, I got mine from Target for $5 in a 3 piece set)
Tools
- Projector (unless you want to attempt to free-hand — good luck!)
- Cricut machine and tools
- Hot Glue Gun
- Utility or Cutting Knife (or Scissors)
How to Make Your DIY Vegas Marquee Sign
Prepare
Download the Cupid’s Casino Marquee Sign Design File. There are several files within the folder (Sign Base Template & Sign Details SVG Cut Files
Part 1: Create the Sign’s Base
Turn on your projector and connect to the device (phone or computer) that you will open the design on. Open the “Projector Template” design up and size the design so it will fit and line up across 2 poster boards (see video and picture for reference).
Tape your poster boards on the wall you’re projecting against and line them up where there are visible lines to do so.
NOTE: In my example I traced on the “pretty” side of the poster board but instead you should trace on the back (to avoid having black marker marks on the front-size). Trace the signs’s base shapes – this is the red back and the gold “frame”.
Once you have traced where you need to cut, take the poster boards down and cut the shapes out. You should have 2 red base pieces and 2 gold pieces.
Tape both red pieces together right down the middle using duct tape on the back.
Tape the 2 gold pieces together at the edges.
You should now have your 2 main sign base pieces. Line them up with the gold on top of the red. See if there are any areas that need slight trimming so that the red edge does not creep past the gold frame. Trim where needed.
Using a hot glue gun, glue the gold frame down onto the red base. Press and smooth. You’re now down with the base and ready to move onto the easier part!
Part 2: Cut the Sign’s Text & Details
Load the SVG of “Cupid’s Casino” into and load this SVG into your die-cutting software. If you want to match the size of my sign, resize the design to 50” x ~23” (with all layers on).
Turn off the Base Sign Layers.
CUPIDS = 4.25″ Height
CASINO = 6.811″ Height
The colors coordinate with certain materials:
- White Vinyl = “CASINO” text
- Red Vinyl = “CUPID’S” text
- Dark Gold = Gold Glitter Cardstock (these are the bigger circles)
- Light Yellow = Metallic Gold Cardstock (these are the smaller circles)
Run the machine and cut – make sure to use the right material for each part of the design. When you are done cutting you should have:
- 1 Cut White Vinyl Sheet with “Casino”
- 1 Cut Red Vinyl Sheet with letters “CUPID‘S”
- 5 Gold Gold Glitter Circles
- 25 Mini Gold Glitter Circles5 Gold Metallic Circles
Weed all of the extra material so that you only have the cut letters and shapes.
Part 3: Assemble the Sign’s Text
With all your pieces from Part 2 we will start to assemble the pieces that need gluing. Start with the C-U-P-I-D-’S letters and using transfer tape remove from the vinyl backing and adhere to the smaller gold metallic circles. Repeat this until every is on a gold circle.
Next take your hot glue gun and glue each or your “CUPID’S” gold circles onto the slightly larger gold glitter circles.
Apply transfer tape on top of the “CASINO” text vinyl to prepare it for assembly.
Lay out your sign’s base from Part 1 down. Before you remove any transfer tape, play around with the CUPIDS letters and start laying out where each piece should go. This will give you a sense of where to adhere “CASINO” – keep in mind if you’re adding the heart marquee light at the top that you should leave a little space at the top and avoid putting “CUPID’S” close to the edge.
Once you have finalized placement, peel the transfer tape with “CASINO” text and carefully lay it down on the base. Smooth and press then peel back the transfer tape.
Once the “CASINO” text is down, start hot gluing your circles with “CUPID’S” down. You’re now done with the sign’s lettering.
Part 4: Embellishments
With the sign lettering done, it’s time to move on to embellishments. Using your hot glue gun, glue the gold gems onto the glitter gold cardstock circles. These will be your ‘mock’ marquee lights. Repeat this step until all 25 gems are glued to circles.
Using your glue gun again start gluing down your gems along the edge of the gold frame. I would start at the bottom center point. To make sure you are consistent in spacing them out for a nice cohesive look – use a rule or cut out a piece of paper that you will use as a spacing guide to make sure the space between each gem is the same. Repeat this process until you’ve gone around the edge of the frame.
Note: if you are using the heart marquee you do not need to add a gem in top center point (I accidentally did, however, it will get covered in the end anyway – but does prevent the heart from being flush).
Optional: If adding the Heart Marquee Light – I added the heart light AFTER I hung the sign up and i just used 3 pieces of very strong duct tape (avoid taping over the on-off switch).
To hand the sign I also used duct tape – and to make sure I did not have to tear the posterboard when I took it down I applied several strips of duct tape to the back of the sign which is where I placed the duct tape I used to adhere it (pictured).
I hope you enjoyed making the sign – it really is a show-stopper and I’m truly impressed how easy (if a little time consuming) and affordable it was to make. This was the center focal piece of my Cupid’s Casino Themed Dinner party.
Time + Cost
Time: 2-3 hours (mostly for tracing and gluing)
Cost: Under $25 (especially if you already have the tools!)
Related Party
This DIY was part of our Cupid’s Casino Party—see the full party hub here for more games, recipes, and hosting tips.
Looking for more creative ideas? Check out our other DIY blog posts here →
Don’t forget to pin this project for later!