December 27, 2010

Homemade Christmas :: Subway Art

This year I was stumped on what to get my husband, Phil, for Christmas. I have always had great ideas in the past so this was a new experience for me. I decided to pick the brain of a few friends whose husbands have similar tastes to mine and was able to come up with one great idea but I still needed something more.

One night I was browsing online and found this awesome website - RedLetterWords. There art was perfect for Phil's office but the price tag was NOT perfect at all. I decided after looking at the art further that Phil needed to have something like this and I would make it myself. I googled "Subway Art" and came upon a plethora of DIY websites and blogs. So I bought the supplies for $30 (which includes an extra canvas for another project down the road sometime). I used Phil's favorite scripture - Micah 6:8.

Here is how I created Phil's Subway Art:

First I needed to get my hands on a bottle of this amazing Craft Spray Adhesive and several other supplies: art canvas, contact paper, exacto knife, and paint.

After choosing my paint colors I went to work painting 2 coats of light blue on to the blank canvas.

Next I used powerpoint to create the layout of the letters. The wonderful workers at Kinkos helped me blow it up to 16" by 18" for a whopping $7. I am sure there is a way you can make this part cheaper but I was short on time and a little lazy.

Once the letters are blown up I cut the words out in strips and then used the adhesive to stick them to the front of contact paper. After that I enjoyed some serious bonding time with my new exacto knife and the letters. Cutting each letter out took a bit of time but it was worth it in the end.


Once the letters were cut it was time to take the contact backing off and stick them on to the canvas.


Once I was certain that the letters were secure I applied several coats (I think it ended up being 4) of brown paint over top.


I let it dry overnight before peeling the letters off to reveal the blue underneath. After a little touching up I was left with a beautiful piece of art that Phil can use in his office forever!


I hope that this post inspires you to create your very own subway art!

2 comments:

Amanda @ Heart Tree Home said...

Great project, Katie!

rachel mae said...

super cute, katie! great work. :)