For this project I used corrugated plastic or coroplast as the backing material and used orange and purple mini lights for the design. This can be purchased at many sign shops or plastics shops; in my case I used political signs. On a side note, I used some Kilz paint to cover the advertisement so the spray paint would cover better. To put this design on the coroplast you can free-hand the drawing or if you are not artistic like me use an overhead projector to display the design on the coroplast and simply trace it out.
Once the design has been traced mark holes in the design every 1 inch or 3/4 inch, this is where the lights will be pushed through. After the holes have been marked use a punch tool or use a drill with a bit that is slightly smaller than the light and make holes for all the lights. After the holes have been made use channel lock pliers or your favorite pliers to push the lights through. I found this saved my hands although you have to be gentle to avoid damaging the lights or the coroplast. Since the light holes are smaller than the lights that are being put in the lights will fit snug and be held in place. If there are any lights leftover after the holes have been filled they can either be covered with electrical tape or black out caps, do not remove the lights since part of the light string will go dark.
There are many ways to make a frame to hold the new creation; a wooden frame, metal fence posts, etc. I made the frames with PVC pipe. Simply make a border with the pipe and junctions the size of your creation and zip tie the coroplast to the PVC frame. I did not glue any of the pipes together. For the bottom of the frame use T connectors and place a 6 inch piece of PVC in the bottom so it will be off the ground. Now that the frame is made and the coroplast is fastened to it use some rebar that was pounded half way into the ground and slide the PVC frame on top.
Here are some pictures of the finished product (holding out on the back of the signs in case the politician runs for re-election!)
