Homemade Disney Subway Sign

Good morning everyone.  I am bring back and old blog post for a Flashback Friday.  This was one of my favorite posts to write and one of my favorite projects to work on.  Even though it is about a year old, I still enjoy reading the post to see what I did.

So, here you go!

I wanted to make something for my coworker Kelli, who is a major Disney fanatic.  Without her, I wouldn’t be in the position that I am in and I wouldn’t enjoy going to work as much as I do.  So because of this, I wanted to make something for her as a thank you.

Do you remember the pillow that mom bought from Disneyland?  If you don’t, you can click here to see the post.  Well, I like the design of it, so I decided to put it on a sign for Kelli.

The first thing that I did was I found some scrap wood that dad had left over from building some cat huts for our friends shelter.  They were all about the same length, so I placed 8 pieces next to each other for the width of the sign.  I then took a 9th piece and cut it to fit on the back of the sign.  I then took the two pieces for the back and nailed all the pieces together.

Subway Art Sign

Next came the fun part, painting!  Yeah!

Subway Art Sign

I knew that I wanted the sign to be white and have black writing on it.  So, I painted the wood white…and of course the spray paint just soaked in.  Urgh!  So, I had to spray a few coats on the sign and then it was ready to be drawn on.

Subway Art Sign

Once the paint had dried, I brought the sign inside and was ready to start the fun part.  I found a picture of the pillow online and with some maneuvering in Microsoft word, I was able to take the picture and make it fit on my sign.  I covered the back of the paper with pencil so that I could draw on the front to have my design come out on the wood.

Subway Art Sign

pencil

This was harder than I thought it would be for a few reasons.  1: I had to put the pencil on really thick so that I could see it on the wood. 2: some pieces of the wood was rough and I could hardly see the pencil marks. 3: some of the pieces of wood were so rough that I had to free hand that part.

But with all of this bad, I was able to get a design that I absolutely fell in love with on the  sign.  I used a sharpie to draw on the sign and used a fine point sharpie to add detail.  The final things to add were varnish and picture hangers.  I added two on the back because I wasn’t sure how heavy it would be.

And here it is!  The finished product is beautiful!

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

I love how it turned out and it didn’t take that long to make.  I hope that Kelli loves it as much as I do.  And hopefully, I can make more because they turned out amazing!

Final note: Kelli absolutely loved the sign and it currently hangs in her office at work.  So, I get to see it everyday when I go into work.  Plus, it helped me to make a little extra cash because then my coworkers wanted signs!

Check out some of the other wooden signs I have made!

Board After 1           

sparkle

Homemade Disney Subway Sign

Sorry for the delay in this blog post.  This project took just a tiny bit longer than I had intended.  But, without further ado, here is the project.

I wanted to make something for my coworker Kelli, who is a major Disney fanatic.  Without her, I wouldn’t be in the position that I am in and I wouldn’t enjoy going to work as much as I do.  So because of this, I wanted to make something for her as a thank you.

Do you remember the pillow that mom bought from Disneyland?  If you don’t, you can click here to see the post.  Well, I like the design of it, so I decided to put it on a sign for Kelli.

The first thing that I did was I found some scrap wood that dad had left over from building some cat huts for our friends shelter.  They were all about the same length, so I placed 8 pieces next to each other for the width of the sign.  I then took a 9th piece and cut it to fit on the back of the sign.  I then took the two pieces for the back and nailed all the pieces together.

Subway Art Sign

Next came the fun part, painting!  Yeah!

Subway Art Sign

I knew that I wanted the sign to be white and have black writing on it.  So, I painted the wood white…and of course the spray paint just soaked in.  Urgh!  So, I had to spray a few coats on the sign and then it was ready to be drawn on.

Subway Art Sign

Once the paint had dried, I brought the sign inside and was ready to start the fun part.  I found a picture of the pillow online and with some maneuvering in Microsoft word, I was able to take the picture and make it fit on my sign.  I covered the back of the paper with pencil so that I could draw on the front to have my design come out on the wood.

Subway Art Sign

pencil

This was harder than I thought it would be for a few reasons.  1: I had to put the pencil on really thick so that I could see it on the wood. 2: some pieces of the wood was rough and I could hardly see the pencil marks. 3: some of the pieces of wood were so rough that I had to free hand that part.

But with all of this bad, I was able to get a design that I absolutely fell in love with on the  sign.  I used a sharpie to draw on the sign and used a fine point sharpie to add detail.  The final things to add were varnish and picture hangers.  I added two on the back because I wasn’t sure how heavy it would be.

And here it is!  The finished product is beautiful!

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

Subway Art Sign

I love how it turned out and it didn’t take that long to make.  I hope that Kelli loves it as much as I do.  And hopefully, I can make more because they turned out amazing!

sparkle

How To Make Chalkboard Subway Art-California Style

Hi everyone! First of all I want to apologize for only getting out one post this past week. Life has been so crazy for both Lauren and I! I have been working more hours, plus had activities each night and Haley graduates in a week!!! Lauren has also had more work hours and had finals and many papers to write. Not sure how much better this week will be with graduation preparations, but I am here today! I will share all the good grad tips when I come back!

I did manage to get a project done this past week. I wanted to change out an old decorative window I had hanging in my bathroom. The preschool I work at was getting rid of an old puppet theater type thing. I didn’t want it for my classroom, but it had chalkboard on all 3 sides. Hello!? Yes, I want it!

My husband took it apart before I took a picture, but here are the 3 sides.

chalkboard subway sign1

I took the smallest piece and taped all the ages. Then I took Rust-oleum Black Chalkboard Paint and sprayed the middle.

Taped off

Taped off

From green to black!

From green to black!

chalkboard subway sign4

After the chalkboard paint was dry, I removed the tape. Then I used some Minwax Wood Finish, Golden Oak, that I had on hand. I dipped a rag into the can and then wiped it on the wood frame. I let it dry and then added another coat.

chalkboard subway sign5

This shows the difference in the wood color.

This shows the difference in the wood color.

After everything was dry, I primed the chalkboard. This just means rubbing chalk all over the whole board and then wiping it off. Now your board is ready to use!

Primed

Primed

I printed out the names of different California beaches, in different fonts on the computer. My plan was to rub chalk on the back of the paper, then trace it on to the board. It worked a little, but the chalk wasn’t dark enough for me to see. So I ended up just using the prints as my samples and I freehanded as best I could.

California Beaches

California Beaches

This is where it’s now hanging! I like how it looks here, but it’s also nice that I can either change where I put it or I can change what’s on it.

New artwork for my bathroom!

New artwork for my bathroom!

chalkboard subway sign11

chalkboard subway sign12

chalkboard subway sign13

chalkboard subway sign14

chalkboard subway sign16

I have an idea for one of the other pieces. I think I am going to use it in my classroom to write all the funny things the kids say, but I don’t know about the other piece. I would love to hear some ideas! I hope you all have a great week!

Sunshine and Blessings