So there I was, designing a Sesame Street event...trying to think of the perfect accent items, colors and patterns to make this event POP, but all my mind kept going back to was that darn street light/sign. Now I at the time had very little prop making skills, and normally this would be something I would outsource to another vendor. The budget unfortunately didn't allow for that this time around, but I just HAD TO HAVE THAT LIGHT POST! So I found myself wondering around Home Depot trying to figure out how I could make this prop happen. After a couple of hours walking around and engineering in my head how I was going to this, I ended up with a cute reel, a minor headache, and a super cute Sesame Street prop I wanted to share with you guys!
Moral of the story was that even when you don't have expertise in something, don't be afraid to branch out and try new things! You never know what that creative little brain will come up with!
Here's how I made it! Also an Amazon list to shop the materials needed!
1. Green poster board 2. Yellow poster board 3. Foam board 4. White sticker paper 5. Stairs post (starting nowel) 6. 15/32 2x2 plywood sheet 7. 7/8 x 48” dowel 8. 4x4 cap post 9. #8 wood screw 2” 10. 6” LED light ball 11. Meadow green paint & prime spray paint w/ gloss 12. Power drill w/ Phillips screw bit & 7/8 spade bit, and a 1/16 drill bit 13. Screw hooks 14. Craft jewelry chain 15. X-Acto knife 16. Cricut machine 17. Craft glue stick 18. Transfer paper
1. If purchasing your wood material at Home Depot have them cut the plywood board in a 12 x 12 square and a 10 x 10 square. Have them cut the rounded top off of the stairs posts so that it is flat on top. Have them cut the dowel post to your desired length of extension, mine was about 27 inches long. If you have your own electric saw you may do all of these cut yourself.
2. Use your power drill and your 7/8 spade bit to drill a hole in the upper side part of the stair post. You can drop all the way through it partially through depending on the length you cut you dowel. This is where you will enter the dowel after paining all parts.
3. Sand any rough edges from drilling or sawing before you spray paint all wood material.
4. Once the paint is dried, use your drill bit to drill four holes in the bottom of the stair post. I used a little paint to mark the holes and then set them on top of the center of the 10 x 10 square in the 12 x 12 square so they would leave a mark and I knew where to drill the holes into the squares so everything was aligned. Once I drilled the four holes in both squares, I lined up the two squares and the post and drilled in four wood screws through the bottom of the squares into the post.
5. Next I set the post cap on top of the stairs post and drilled one hole in the center through the top with my drill bit and then one wood screw through the same hole to secure the cap to the stair post.
6. Finally I pushed the dowel through the hole that I drilled. This should be a tight fit but if you find it too tight you’re welcome to sand the inside of the hole or drill the hole a little bit bigger if you have a slightly larger spade bit.
7. Next I twisted the screw hooks into the bottom of the dowel and hung the chain from each hook and cut it to the desired length.
8. For the sign I found a free Sesame Street sign SVG file online and use my cricut machine to cut the yellow and green sign shapes out with poster board. I glued the pieces together then put them on foam board to trace out the shape of the sign. I then cut out the sign from the foam board with an X-Acto knife and glued the poster board sign to the foam board sign. I used sticker paper and cut out the writing for the sign with my Cricut machine then use transfer paper to transfer the words to the sign. Once the sign was completed, I put holes in each corner and hung it from the chain on the sign.
9. The LED light sits on top of the post cap, it is not secured because you do need access to the bottom to charge it.
ALL DONE!
Click the pictures below to purchase some of the materials needed!