We gave our introductions – that is me on the left – then we got straight into our project! Our fearless leader David, that is him on the right… just in case you couldn’t tell, walked us through the general project steps and I could tell that our amazing group was equal parts excited and a bit nervous about getting to use power tools! Truthfully, this is my favorite thing because I have found that I love to watch people come to the realization that they can actually do this sort of thing. Power tools are empowering, that is just the heart of the matter.

David brilliantly printed out his drawing of the measurements for the letters J, O, and Y. With this he showed us how to use a T-Square to recreate the letters on our plywood. It sounds trivial perhaps, but trust me when I say that it is a detail that is easily overlooked and has the potential to cause a bit of a headache if not addressed. The letters are larger than a standard sheet of paper, so unless you scale them down you aren’t able to print and cut out a template. Drawing them out is the best solution and he made this step easy!

Then onto the real deal… It was time for everyone to get to try out the jig saw. I could tell this was initially the part folks were nervous about, but they got to see just how easy it is. They also got a few tips from me about how to maintain control of the saw and use it to their greatest advantage. For any of you who have used a jig saw, you already know how they can shake your head loose if you don’t maintain pressure throughout your cuts.

We were shown how to make the pilot hole for cutting out the inside of the O, such good stuff!

We talked trimmings of a woodsy variety and our group got to use one of my favorite tools of all time- the Ryobi Cordless Airstrike Nail Gun – to nail on the perimeter trim that frames out the marquee sign. That thing is addicting. I could see it start to take hold of each of the people who gave it a whirl. You just don’t want to stop. In fact, you might find yourself looking for reasons to use it and when all else fails… making them up entirely! The letters were nailed in place and everyone was seeing things really come together at this point.

While our letters had already been drilled for light placement, so they could be painted inside the holes ahead of time, your version at home will likely get holes after they are secured. If you prefer to drill through the letters in advance, then paint them fully, then once they are secured to the back board you can drill carefully through your premade holes to create a hole in the same spot through the back plywood sheet.

Just look at that gorgeous sawdust. Sawdust smells like progress and productivity, don’t you think?

When you are ready to string your lights, you will likely have to remove the globe portion so you can fit the lights in and through your holes. When you put the globe portion back on, it will help hold the lights in place so do this as you go along! You can use a little epoxy to secure the base of the lights to the hole so that they don’t move around. If you prefer to have your string of lights be less permanent, you can of course simply pull things nice and tight on the backside and use a staple gun to carefully secure it. Yahoo, that is all she wrote… except there were some awesome prizes including our group project and another identical sign and some gift cards as well! Yay! So many winners… and now you boys and girls have a chance to win a huge holiday prize of $500 to The Home Depot! The entry form should show below, if it doesn’t, simply refresh. I provided a great many methods for entry so that no one feels left out! Do them all, or do just one, regardless I wish you all the very best luck!

PRIZE // $500 Gift Card to The Home Depot

WINNER // One winner will be drawn at random from the Rafflecopter entries below. It’s all very civilized and technical, you know?

GIVEAWAY // This giveaway ends at midnight on December 10, 2014 and the winner will be notified via email later that morning. Make sure the email you use to sign in to Rafflecopter or Disqus (for comments) is valid and regularly checked! It would be sad to miss out on your prize!

// Make this year a how-to holiday. The Home Depot is the destination for the tools and supplies to deck your halls without the hassle.

// The Home Depot can share the skills and confidence to be a first class do-it-yourselfer. In-store workshops are a great way to get step-by-step instructions and hands-on experience learning to do simple décor and easy home improvements.

// Do-It-Herself (DIH) Workshops are held monthly at all The Home Depot store locations and empower women to take their home improvement project plans from dreams to done.

// Clear your calendar and grab your girlfriends the third Thursday of each month for The Home Depot’s DIH Workshop. This interactive, hands-on workshop is a great opportunity to fine tune your DIY skills and pick up tips and advice from the pros for all of your home improvement projects.