Have something to say? This quote wall is an easy project you can make in an afternoon using marquee letters and pine boards. Here’s how to make a quote wall with picture ledges.
I don’t really ever pick a word of the year.
I want to.
Truly, I do.
But when I go to choose, they all look at me with twinkling letter eyes and cute letter grins and I fall in love with all of them.
And I can’t ever decide.
So instead of a word this year, I chose a theme.
Instead of letting negative thoughts bring me down?
I choose joy.
Instead of letting sadness speedbumps defeat me?
I choose joy.
Instead of letting comparison rear its ugly head?
I choose joy.
To celebrate joy and laughter and living every single moment to the fullest?
Here’s a little message to remind us what we are choosing.
How to make a quote wall with picture ledges.
It all started with these marquee letters.
You may or may not have seen them on the blog before.
When I lived in Kentucky, the local high school got a fancy sign with bright blinking letters and spotlights and shiny messages. They took the old sign down and asked if anyone wanted the letters.
Ummm.
Me.
Me, please.
Me, the one dancing and shouting and running out with armfuls of marquee letters.
I brought them home and made projects out of them.
Like a growth chart.
And decorated my table that came over on the Mayflower with them.
And used them to organize my office.
But this is my favorite project to date.
It’s a quote wall with marquee letters sitting on picture ledges we made out of 1″x 2″ boards.
The entire project cost about $11 to make.
How to make a quote wall with picture ledges
1. Purchase your lumber
I bought four of these boards from Lowe’s.
They measure 1″ x 2″ by 8′.
They were $2.48 each.
2. Cut boards to size
We cut each of the boards in half. Each of the shelves measures 1″ x 2″ x 4′.
3. Attach the boards together
Here’s a close-up of what the picture ledges that we made look like.
We just attached one board to the other and then nailed them directly into the wall.
Together they form a backwards L.
4. Create your message
I took those same marquee letters that have traveled across the Mississippi river with me and created a quote wall.
It reads:
Live
Laugh
Joy
Repeat.
It’s not fancy.
Not even close.
But the message?
It’s so simple that it takes my breath away.
And today I wanted to share a little joy with you.
Yep.
You.
Just in case you needed some.
Just in case you had a hard week.
Just in case you were a little sad.
Just in case.
I wanted to share.
I wanted take a moment to to tell you...yes….you with the coffee or the hot tea or the diet coke with the blueberry muffin.
You.
You. Are. Amazing.
A rock star.
Truly.
I thought you needed to know and just in case no one mentioned it to you today.
I wanted to be the first.
Truth?
You probably already know how amazing you are and you probably are like thank goodness she finally noticed and mentioned it.
You probably already figured out that you are a rock star
And from one rock star to another…..
…..I totally agree.
Choose joy.
Always.
AMAZING!!!!
Thanks for the boost. :) And the quote wall is great... got any ideas for those of us without a stash of letters waiting for us? How tall/wide are yours, please?
Love It! Great quote, you make it so fun and lively,
KariAnne, of course you wanted the marquee letters! Don’t be silly, you had so many ideas and couldn’t wait to use those letters. Keep on bringing JOY, the world needs it! Thanks!
Love this! BEST quote of the year ever! Am thinking of ways to create marquee letters out of something I have laying around!
I love the quote! And in case you don't know but sure you do, You're AMAZING!!! AND YOU inspire me every day, thank you.
What a great post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Love the idea and especially the message!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are amazing! Wish we were neighbors!
My motto is very similar to yours...#scatterjoy Thank you, Rock Star for your joy being on constant repeat! Choosing joy is such a better path.
Giant letters! What a find! I know that they sell stick on letters at Lowes/Home Depot and maybe they could be put on something like foam board. Trying to think of something better as a backing, but i bet Hobby Lobby or Michaels have something like that. Great idea! and Thanks. As I was awake in the middle of the night, I thought, "I have to call my daughter and son and tell them how marvelous they are". So, thanks for the thought and the reminder.
What a great idea and a great message! It would be so nice to wake up and see that every morning and I have a blank wall in my office that it would work with. There is a high school just around the corner from me that has the old-school marquee sign that they seem pretty committed to keeping. It would be wrong to just steal the letters, right? That's not the take-away from this post....rats......OK, off to the hobby store.....
What a cute idea! Thanks for sharing that one. (And I love the message!)
Thanks for the boost! We all need that sometimes! Happy Joyful Day to you!
I think you must have some sort of inner creativity fountain--I can't believe how you constantly churn out such great ideas!
I totally agree! People don't seem to realise they truely have the ability to make a choice. You can choose to be sad OR you can choose to be joyful. Some days joy is a little more elusive, but it's ALWAYS there. Having a bad day? Start small, find the joy in one little thing, goodness that was an excellent egg on toast, oh, I haven't seen the blue birds in awhile and there are two pair, look at the sunshine streaming through the dancing dust moats....it really is pretty easy to get your mind in a good place. Once you get in the habit of finding and thinking happy thoughts on a regular basis, consciously, soon it is just automatic and your days honestly become more and more joyful. You keep sending your message of joy, Karianne, this world needs it more now than ever. Thank you for being beacon of ,ight for all to see!
I love Karianne’s post...and I love Deb’s thoughts about starting small. Thank you ladie, for brightening my day!!
Oops, that’s ladies!
Our pastor gave us all “star words” picked randomly from a basket on the first Sunday of the new year. Mine was “affirmation”. You just gave me mine for today!!! Rock on girlfriend💕
This reminds me of one of my favorite poems, technically a Christmas poem but I use it year round: Fra Giovanni’s Christmas Prayer There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much that, while I cannot give, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven. No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in the present moment. Take Peace. The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take Joy!
I try every day! 😆
Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! Thank you for this lovely lady!!! xoxo
Karianne, I always enjoy seeing your projects, but the joy behind them is what inspires me. I often hear from God through your blog and today He is pushing me really hard to "Jump". Looooong story... Thank you for your obedience to Him. Your impact on others and the Kingdom of God is far greater than you might imagine. I so enjoyed visiting with you last Saturday at the basketball game. I'll send you the link to the humorist I mentioned to you.
Very special, KariAnne! Thanks for the reminder to choose joy!
That is such a clever idea...and those marquis letters!!!
fyi: your backward "L" shelves are hard to see as they are white & so are your walls :(
I think that was probably done on purpose to give the letters a floating look. I love it!
You are joy... You are amazing. 🥰
Thank you for this post! I needed it and I loved it and thank you for making me feel like you were talking just to me, you gave me joy!
Hi Karianne! You,my friend, are the rock star! Your words and your blog is so uplifting! Your creativity never ceases to amaze me! I always look so forward to your posts to see what you’re going to do, make or say next! You have an incredible gift to touch peoples hearts and souls and you always amaze me. The world needs more people like you. I forget to choose joy sometimes, so thank you for reminding me. It truly is a choice we make as to whether the glass is half full or half empty. People need to be reminded to choose joy so thank you for the reminder, I needed it! Now here’s a little tip. Get your man with the sparkling brown eyes to take his router and run you a little line next to the edge of that bottom board so you can use it to put plates on so they won’t slide off. Plus it’ll keep your letters from sliding off too. That way, you can use it for more than one thing. Thanks for the great idea of how to make them, and so cheaply too! Have a wonderful weekend! 😊
Clever idea, what room is this?
Katie, It's the media room upstairs at the top of the hall! You can see the room here: https://thistlewoodfarms.com/gray-and-white-farmhouse-decor/ Happy day friend! karianne
I can't even! God has blessed you with an amazing, incredibly fertile mind, with the most incredible ideas! This is so inspired!
This is so cool. I have a ginormous wall that I struggle decorating. Something like this would be perfect. I can even make my own letters! Thanks for sharing.
So - your word of the year is joy? :)
I also have a stash of marquee letters - same as you, got them from an old school that had upgraded their system - and have been waiting for a great project to use them on!!! Thanks for the inspiration!
Such a great idea! Where can I find letters?
Kim, I've seen so many different versions of these letters on etsy! Hope this helps! karianne