Diresta Inspired Giant Sticker Display

I draw inspiration from a lot of sources, and lately I have been inspired by two makers in-particular: Jimmy Diresta and Paul Jackman (you may have heard of them).

After seeing Jimmy at Workbench Con and getting a "I Make Therefore I Am" card from him, I decided to combine that with Paul Jackman's trait of Jackman-sizing (blowing things up to ridiculous proportions), and make a large scale version of the card.

This fit perfectly with a problem I had - having a bunch of stickers I have collected from sticker swaps and not knowing where to put them.

So I build a Jackman-sized version of the I Make card and created a giant sticker board!

Here's how I put it together

The materials I used: (with affiliate links)

I Make Therefore I Am card - Jimmy gives these away, in person, so you need to talk to him about getting one
Stickers - you can get these from sticker swaps with other makers (where applicable)
4'x8' plywood
1"x2"x8' trim
1/2" plywood - https://amzn.to/2VEih7C

The tools I used:

Miter saw - https://amzn.to/2UQPZX0
Clamps - https://amzn.to/2XDyJq4
Drill press - https://amzn.to/2UL76JX
Scroll saw - https://amzn.to/2Vi84lf
Sanding sponge - https://amzn.to/2unPGaF
Brad nailer - https://amzn.to/2VM08s0
Minwax espresso stain - https://amzn.to/2LrLSRc
Wood glue - https://amzn.to/2ExYS0Y
Spray paint - https://amzn.to/2ExYS0Y
Spray adhesive - https://amzn.to/2ExYS0Y
Contact paper - https://amzn.to/2ExYS0Y

I scanned the card into my computer, and brought the scan into Inkscape. I used the 'trace bitmap' function and made a trace of the card and cleaned up some of the edges.

I scaled the document properties to 6' tall by 4' wide, then scaled the bitmap to fit the 6x4. I broke up the pieces of the bitmap and removed some of the elements I didn't want in the large version (like the anvil). I combined all the letters together and printed them out to scale.

I taped the pages together and cut out the outlines of each of the lettering.

After getting the exact measurements of the board, I took my 1x2 trim and cut it to fit as a frame around the edge of the plywood. I took some wood glue and ran a bead along each of the edges and used the brad nailer to nail the trim to the plywood.

Based on the measurements I got from scaling the card, I measured in from each of the corner edges 5" and started to cut trim pieces to frame the corner sections in. I removed about 1/2" off the top of each of the pieces so that they didn't stick out above the trim pieces.

I took the sanding sponge and smoothed down all the surfaces of the frame pieces - all the while singing

"SAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE!" at the top of my lungs.

I taped off the inside of the frame and took the espresso stain and stained the frame and corner pieces.

SIDE NOTE: I should have done this before gluing everything together, but I was still undecided on what colors I was going to use for the sticker board. That's why I am staining at this point in the build.

I wanted to have some depth to the lettering for the "I Make Therefore I am", so I decided to make the black portions of the lettering the background and the while portions of the letters a second layer - giving a bit more depth and dimensions to the letters.

I took the spray adhesive and sprayed down the contact paper and paper letters, then after they dried slightly I stuck them together and cut out each of the letters. I took the backing off the contact paper and attached it to the 1/2" plywood and cut out each of the letters.

I removed the contact paper then took the black spray paint and painted each of the background letters.

I took the contact paper letters and cut them down to the white portions, then attached them to the plywood. I cut out the shape of the letters, then took the letters to the drill press and drilled out holes in each of the inner accents. I took the letter to the scroll saw and fed the saw blade through the holes that I drilled and cut out the accents.

SIDE NOTE: This step takes a long, long, long, long, long, long time.

With the pieces all cut out, I then took the white spray paint and painted the letters.

Now that everything was cut out, I started to glue it all together. I glued the white foreground letters to the black background letters and clamped them together. I took my measurements and used a ruler to mark out the placement of the lettering. I glued the lettering down and used some weights to hold the letters down while the glue dried.

That's it! It's done. The first thing to do from here is to get a before picture of the frame before all the stickers (pictured above), and then add all the stickers you may have and get an after picture of your frame all stickered up (also pictured above). Now hang it proudly for all to see, and enjoy!

Now you know how to do it, watch it being made!

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AND you can watch more of my project videos HERE

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