DIY Subway Art

I stumbled upon this fun project while browsing Pintrest.  It comes from Cheri at "I Am Momma Hear Me ROAR".

I chose to do some famous/my favorite places around Portland, Oregon.  This project was very easy to finish and cheap to boot!  But I do have a few edits to the original plans.


One major TAWPS Edit to this project:
Picnik (the website Cheri uses to create her artwork) doesn't exist anymore.  But, I found a way around that.  Picasa 3 is a free program that allows you to do simple photo editing. Click on the link and follow the instructions to download it.  Once that's done we can get started:

Okay, first things first.  Open Picasa.  If this is your first time ever opening it on your computer, you'll have to show it where to find all your pictures.  Do the following:

• Click File then Add Folder to Picasa
• Then click on whatever folder you keep your photos on your computer in.  Give the program a while to import all the photos.

To navigate through Picasa you just need to click on the folders to the left that contain your pictures.  When you find the one you want, pin it, by clicking on the green pin button on the bottom of the screen.

*You can choose any photo you would like, just make sure it's the orientation you would like it (landscape or vertical)

Once you've selected your picture go to Picture and select View and Edit.  It will take you to another window.  The first thing you'll want to do is crop your picture to a 4x6.  This will make the picture the same ratio needed when you print it in a 2x3 foot poster.  To do this click Crop Photo and select the size and the the part of the picture you want to crop then click Apply.
*It doesn't matter where you crop your picture, you will be covering it up later.

Once cropped click Edit in Picnik or Edit in Creative Kit (which ever option you have in your program) and select Yes when the communication window pops up. Once in Picnik, select the Decorate tab and choose Speech Bubbles.  I chose the rectangular bubble, and used two to cover the picture completely.
*You do this because you want a completely black canvas to write your subway art on, but you can't get there without a picture to edit.  Strange, I know.

From here save the completely covered version of your picture so you have a blank canvas to use every
time you make your artwork.  Now that you have a blank canvas, select it, got to picture and select view and edit again. Then click on the Text tab choose a font and play around with how you want your art to look.
*Now you can complete the project from the original blog.

Another TAWPS edit:

I don't own a nail gone, and it's probably better that way (I'm very clumsy)  So, I use wood glue and clamps that I picked up a Home Depot.   I do the short sides first, using two clamps on each side and letting them dry overnight.  Then I do one long side at a time, using 4 clamps on each side and letting them dry overnight.  It takes me about 3 days to finish constructing the frames, but it's better than shooting a nail through my leg :)

I hope you found my project edits very helpful.  Please leave a comment or send me an email if you have any questions or feedback.  I'd love to hear what you think!