Where do you buy large letters?

[ilovetheviolets]

I tried the search function...so don't get mad at me if the answer is already somewhere on this board.
Where do you buy the large letters that chapters use to pose with on bid day? Thanks in advance for your help.

[AOII Angel]

As far as I know, most people get someone to make them for them out of wood. We had several sets of big AOII letters that were used for many events including rush, bid day, football games, homecoming, etc.

[DeeZeeOE07]

The fraternities on my campus always make letters for the sororities. We have like, 3 sets of letters floating around - one that's ours, one that the fraternities keep passing around, and an old set that's in our storage closet haha

[TNPhiMu]

We had one of the collegiate member's dad's to make them for us. Then, a couple of our girls painted them.

[AlwaysSAI]

How are they made exactly? With a saw or what? I mean, how do you cut the letters out of the wood??

I've been wanting to make some for my SAI chapter since I joined, but I don't know how.

[AOII Angel]

You can use a saw. If you don't know anyone who can help you with the wood, you can also use the 1-1/2 inch foam insulation. You can cut the shape with a knife, including the inside pieces. I did this to make 36 sets of AOII letters to put in our windows at the dorm. You can paint the foam side and put any design you'd like. They are fairly durable, but be careful with them since the foam can break...I broke a few but fixed them with toothpicks of all things! The foam comes in the same size as sheet style wood used for letters. It is also much lighter.

[AlphaFrog]

SAI would be fairly easy to do. It's not like Xi or Theta that have ~ that isn't connected to anything.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

You can use a saw. If you don't know anyone who can help you with the wood, you can also use the 1-1/2 inch foam insulation. You can cut the shape with a knife, including the inside pieces. I did this to make 36 sets of AOII letters to put in our windows at the dorm. You can paint the foam side and put any design you'd like. They are fairly durable, but be careful with them since the foam can break...I broke a few but fixed them with toothpicks of all things! The foam comes in the same size as sheet style wood used for letters. It is also much lighter.

I like the insulation idea.....I'm gonna hafta look into that.

It's not the making of the letters I'm concerned about. it's more the cutting them out. Maybe I'll start with insulation and eventually move on to wood.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

I like the insulation idea.....I'm gonna hafta look into that.

It's not the making of the letters I'm concerned about. it's more the cutting them out. Maybe I'll start with insulation and eventually move on to wood.

What helped me a lot (since I also put panda bears on the letters) was using a carosel or overhead projector to project the design onto the foam. Use a sharpie to draw the letters onto each insulation sheet. Then, follow the line with a knife to cut out the shape. This will assure that each of the letters looks right, and you don't have to spend time measuring out the dimensions of the letters.

A downside of foam is that if it's windy, they will take flight! If you make them small enough to hold, this shouldn't be such a problem...see the pretty Phi Mu stipey letters on the Bid Day picture thread!

[LaneSig]

If you buy the wood at Home Depot or Lowe's, you can check if they would be willing to cut the wood for you. Then, you can superglue or nail the wood together to make the letters.

[AlphaFrog]

http://www.localsororities.org/stencils.html

There are outlines you can use for the letters.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

see the pretty Phi Mu stipey letters on the Bid Day picture thread!

Were those letters really made out of insulation?? They are really pretty and well done.

We probably won't do much outside with them, so blowing wind shouldn't be a problem.

[TNPhiMu]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

Were those letters really made out of insulation?? They are really pretty and well done.

We probably won't do much outside with them, so blowing wind shouldn't be a problem.

No, those were made out of wood. I'm pretty sure it's just MDF board... pretty heavy and with stands on them, but still light enough to carry and be held up and stuff.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

Were those letters really made out of insulation?? They are really pretty and well done.

We probably won't do much outside with them, so blowing wind shouldn't be a problem.

I doubt it...they look wooden. I only pointed them out to discuss size issues.

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I doubt it...they look wooden. I only pointed them out to discuss size issues.

Oh, oh, my mistake.