Sunday, June 19

Lyric Subway Art

So, we've all seen the subway art. Most of us have some in our homes right now. And with good reason, I mean, it's really cool and retro and it's so versatile! You can personalize it any way you want! And that's what I've done:
What we've got here are some lyrics from the old 70's hippie peace & love song "Get Together" by the Youngbloods. Also, a key. My plan was to make it look very old, very distressed. I wanted to give the impression of an old shop shingle. Did I succeed? I rarely do. But I'm keeping it anyway. After the jump, the tutorial.



I began with a bit of wood. It's kinda big. I DO have a mantel to fill after all. I sanded the sides, front and back and whitewashed it. I wanted the woodgrain to show through a bit.
Then, I printed out the lyrics, using specific spacing and a different font for each line. I printed them out in a landscape orientation (since this best fit my wood measurements) and taped it on with masking tape.

Oh yeah, I put carbon tracing paper under the lyrics so I could trace the words on with a ballpoint pen. That's probably an important step.
 Then I used a paint marker to fill in the lettering. I realized belatedly that I had a big empty space at the bottom of the wood, so I printed out a picture of a skeleton key and traced that on there too.
 I don't know why it looks yellow in this picture. Anyway, THEN I decided the black paint was too dark and precise and vivid. So I sanded the lettering to age it. A nice side-effect of tracing with a ballpoint pen was that it made a groove in the wood that held the paint even after sanding. It emphasizes the outline of the letters and I think it's cool.
 So all I had left to do was varnish it with some Minwax Woodsheen and call it a day!



                                           
I'm pretty happy with the result! And I hope everyone had a really wonderful Father's Day. I think sometimes dads are a little overlooked, so I hope you made the special dad in your life feel special.

16 comments:

  1. Very cleaver, it turned out just fabulous. I really like how you used different size letters and the font is just right, great idea to add the key, I really really like it.

    I stopped over from MM.

    Melissa

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  2. I love it! And I grew up in the 60's so I totally know the song. Great song. Great sign. I need to make me one.

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  3. You should be happy with it! It turned out great! :)

    ~Liz

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  4. Thank you for your nice comment. Tone

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  5. What a great idea and you did a wonderful job!!
    Blessings~

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  6. Your plaque turned out great! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I love song lyrics and this is really right up my alley! What a great choice of song. I linked over from Brambleberry Cottage. Your blog looks really fun. I'll be back to browse!
    ~Tina

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  8. Oh it's fantastic! What a treasure!!

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  9. Beeautiful, hi, Besides a weekly anything goes link party, I have a new ongoing free give away link party now too. Share your give aways or enter to win.
    Hope to see you soon at http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

    Come strut your stuff!

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  10. Thanks for dropping by Tales from Bloggeritaville’s Thrifty Thursday, my friend!
    I appreciate your linking up!It's not a party without you!

    You are featured on the Friday flashback this week! Grab a button.

    LIVE*LOVE*LAUGH
    Leigh
    Tales from Bloggeritaville
    www.lbratina.blogspot.com

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  11. This turned out awesome!!! Great job. I definitely want to try this!

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  12. This turned out amazing, great job. You did a great job explaining how to do it. Thanks for sharing.

    Cha Cha

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  13. The results are awesome!!!! Great job!

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  14. I love it! It is a different take on traditional subway art.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  15. Would you consider making more for sale?

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Thanks for commenting!! I really do read them all and I greatly appreciate the feedback.