If you like Subway Art, you are going to love this craft tutorial! Erin shows us how she made her own Subway Art that is super cute! enjoy! -Linda
Subway Art
Then…I saw this family rules sign idea at http://www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/
Not really fitting my home’s decor, I still liked the concept. Then this crazy lady’s light bulb went off! I added the two ideas together to fit my style and created this:
How to Make Subway Art
Here’s what I did- I already had a frame that I had a piece of 1/4″ plywood cut down to size for me at Home Depot (they do 2 cuts for free and many cuts for batted eyes!) I then painted the border with off white craft acrylic paint. After dry, I taped it off and painted my center black. Two coats later, I sanded down the whole surface until sufficiently “aged.”
I then typed up each phrase in a banner-making program and printed each out. After cutting them out, I set them out on the board as I wanted and taped the edges down to hold them in place. Now here comes the fun part; place a sheet of carbon paper between the wood and printed paper. On the first phrase, trace each letter. Take off the paper and carbon and you should have a nice copy of your lettering. Using a paint pen in off white (I used the medium and fine tip “DecoColor” brand from Michael’s), trace again and fill in each letter. I kept a piece of cardboard handy to help blot the tip when it got a little too full. You can use the finer tip to define the edges of each letter a bit better. When done with the first phrase, move down to the next. I just worked on the floor, laying on a pillow so I could really see what I was doing (and make sure I could really smell those lovely paint fumes!)
When all dry, I sanded the letters to help age them as well. Since making this first one, I found another larger frame at Goodwill. It was taller and had a chunkier frame that I painted black:
I even made a few on some ready-made pine boards from Home Depot and hung them without a frame. Here’s one that’s dark brown and cream:
This really wasn’t that hard, yet it makes such a fun, custom sign. Not bad for just under $20, huh? A friend suggested making a subway-style sign using street names from your life (your different homes’ streets, the street you grew up on, etc.) I just saw this idea of writing a poem or saying on a large piece of plywood to make an inexpensive, but large piece of artwork for that big, empty wall:
Ooh, the possibilities! Try it! Just send me your signs for future inspiration.
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