Not much of an Illustrator user, but from how common this type treatment is (especially on retro t-shirt designs lately) I can't imagine it's always done "by hand"...
Is there an easy way for a novice to pull this off?
![[scott w]](/people/%5Bscott%20w%5D/avatar/30.png?a=5184){kind=small}
There are fonts available which are close to what you've posted.
Gelato Script is one.
This isn't exactly like your sample, the font is slightly different and I didn't spend a great deal of time trying to mimic the swash placements and curves, But it can all be done relatively easily if you have the fonts.
