I bought my girlfriend this Hobbit poster http://www.spinelessclassics.com/the-hobbit-one-pa... and wanted to make a poster frame for it, to make it a little bit more personal :3

I wanted to recreate the glowing fiery text from the one ring to rule them all, by using electric flickering candles behind a cut out of the text. It was hard work but i think the end result was worth it!

Step 1: Create and Print Out Text

I found the text i wanted to use online. The 4 verse inscription from the ring. The quality wasn't brilliant so I used the following font i downloaded for free from here http://www.dafont.com/tengwar-annatar.font to type out the font again, then i could create a higher quality version of the text! I used the free image editor GIMP http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ to give the text a slight curve so it looked like it was more rounded like a ring. I printed each of the 4 verses on A4 paper.

Step 2: Carefully Carve Out a Template From the Text

I placed the printed text, the template, on top of some nice high quality paper, I actually used white wallpaper as I wanted the paper to be as long as the length of my poster frame. Fix the template in place on top of the wallpaper with masking tape. Now carefully carve out the letters, the idea is that the spaces you cut out will allow light from electronic candles to shine through, so with that in mind make sure not to cut too much!

Step 3: Create a Basic Wooden Frame

The structure of my frame is wood with a perspex sheet attached on top. The perspex is clear and you will see the image of the poster through it. The paper that we carved up in the last step will be attached to the underside and candles attached behind that allowing light to shine through the holes in the paper, through the clear perspex and visible to the viewer! I bought a large sheet of perspex from here http://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/ large enough to cover the poster and extra space around the edge for my cutom text.

Step 4: Prepare Perspex

The perspex came with a thin white film on it. I placed my wooden frame over this and marked out a rectangle the size of the whole in the frame. I carefully cut away the white film in this area. so i was left with a perspex sheet which was transparent in the middle and still had the white film around the edges.

Step 5: Assemble the Perspex and Wood Frame

The next step is to take our Lord of the Rings text carved out of wallpaper and attach it to the perspex. The clear section of perspex will allow the viewer to see the poster underneath, the perspex that still has the white film on will have the text underneath. You will not be able to see the text through the white film, until you shine a light from underneath it.

Paint the frame white.

Attach the wood frame to the perspex. I tried glue at first which would have worked but because the perspex was bendy it peeled away from the wood. I used screws instead in the end. You can get these small white plastic covers for the screws which help hide the screws a little.

Cut the wallpaper with the text on it to size. Attach to the underside ( the side that does not have white film on) of the perspex. Just attach it with masking tape.

Step 6: Attach Hooks to Allow Hanging

I suppose there are many ways you could do this!

Step 7: Attach the Electric Candles

I bought 12 cheap candles online, so I spread 3 out behind each piece of text. I used tacks to secure them to the poster, the tacks created a little shelf that the candles could rest on. I needed a method that allowed easy removal because you need to access the little candles to turn them on and off. It can be a bit fiddly to take each candle out to turn it on so I'd recommend tying each bunch of 3 candles together and hooking them onto a tack.

Step 8: Turn on the Flickering Candles

Hang the poster on the wall, turn on all the candles and carefully put the candles behind the perspex, the candles will shine through the perspex, the white film on the perspex and the holes we cut out of the paper but not through the wallpaper itself creating the glowing text effect!