Subway Art Challenge

Subway Art...so popular right now. If you look on Etsy to buy one they range from $50-$150 each. AHHH. So why not make your own? I'm not talking about vinyl on wood, I am talking hand panted beautiful subway art. Sounds too good to be true or too hard? Don't worry, it is simple with a little practice.

Here is what you need:
-piece of wood. You can go to Home Depot and buy a piece or reuse and recycle like I did using some old book shelf pieces.
-a die cut machine and vinyl or you can do it by hand using freezer paper or vinyl and an exact o knife.
-craft paint

I started by painting my piece of wood. I didn't even sand the piece because I like the brown highlights under the black paint. Make sure the paint is completely dry.
Next cut out all your letters. You are going to use the vinyl on the outside of the letter, not actually the letters so save those for another project. This was really the toughest part. Make sure you get clean lines and I would suggest the smaller the letter cut outs the better it will look.

Place your letter cut outs on your board in whatever form you like. The vinyl is easy to shift and move if you don't like the placement. Make sure you have all the words on your board before you move onto the next step.
Once your words are placed, paint your letters using nice even strokes. I did too coats because the white paint didn't show up well on the black.Let dry overnight. Then peel off your vinyl and admire your work. You might have to do a few touch ups on any messy sections.
Honestly, this was my second try. The first time I used too big of letters and it looked sloppy. You might want to practice a little before you do the final project.

On another note, this was the last project using my Cricut, Yep, I sold it to buy a Silhouette. Get ready for some great die cut projects in the future!

Not another Mobile

Mobiles are so much fun to make because there are so many different ways of creating them. I had a lot of comments on the butterfly mobile so I decided to show you another version of a mobile that I made for my cousin. It is fabric and super easy to make.

Supplies:

Wood circle from Michael's- holes are already drilled through these
Wood balls with holes already drilled through (30-35)
Ribbon
Fabric
Heat and Bond
Paint

I started by painting the circle and balls. This honestly took the most time because I did all of them by hand. It would probably be easier to just throw the balls in a paint pan and roll them all around. Then I decided how long I wanted the ribbons to hang and how many circles (or whatever shape you choose) I wanted on each string. I put 4 circles on each ribbon and used about 1-1 1/2 yards of ribbon for each hanging section. Then I cut the circles out of the fabric on my cricut. Actually scratch that, first I ironed the heat and bond to the back of the fabric. Then I used a method I learned from Heather to cut the circles on my cricut.

***Apply heat and bond to your fabric. Spray the fabric with starch several times to make sure it gets nice and stiff (about 3 times letting it dry in between each time). Then I applied the fabric to my cricut matt and cut the circles. You will have to play around with the size you like. Cut 2 times as many circles as you want to put on your ribbons because you need one for each side.

Then I attached the circles to the ribbon by ironing the circles together with the ribbon in between. Then I sewed a large stitch all the way down the ribbon to make sure it stayed in place. I did this for all the ribbons until all my circles were attached.

Then I pulled the ribbon through the drilled holes up through the bottom. Next I took some thin white ribbon and attached it to the colored circle ribbons tying it in a bow to make it look nice and finished. Repeat with all the circle ribbons. Finally I strung the painted balls on the white ribbon and tied it at the top (this is where it will hang from the ceiling). Lastly because my cousin's nursery theme is elephants I attached a cloth elephant to the bottom circle on each of the ribbons. This just added some personality and individuality.

It took awhile to make but it was really simple. Just lots of steps. But so worth it. I love it and I know she loves it in little Ryder's room.