Transforming multiple filled shapes into transparent outlines in Photoshop

Question

I'm trying to create a filled plus sign and an empty transparent plus sign in Photoshop. I've been able to create the filled sign with ease, by creating a green vertical rectangle, duplicating it, and rotating it by 90 degrees.

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However, I don't know how to convert the filled sign into a transparent and outlined shape. Here's what I've done so far:

1. I duplicated the filled plus sign to create a new one that I will modify
2. I changed the fill percentage of the new sign to 0%, removing the green fill
3. I added a 3px stroke effect to both of the rectangles, creating the outline.

However, this stroke that I created interests in the middle of the two rectangles. I don't want the intersection to be visible.

Just in case I'm not explaining myself well, here's what I have now:

Here's what I want to achieve:

What is the best way to achieve that?

Answer 1

Solved!

Here's what I did:

1. Duplicate the filled plus
2. Select the two layers the duplicated rectangles are on
3. Merge the layers
4. Set the fill of the resulting layer to 0%
5. Add a stroke effect

The key step was merging the rectangles into a combined shape.