Yes—this activity was that explosive, so it’s a good thing we were making Fourth of July t-shirts! Seriously though, this project is NOT for the faint of heart. It is definitely messy, yet the kids had a blast and their tees turned out so cute and patriotic, it was totally worth it.
Here’s what we did…
Collect materials.
Before getting started you will need:
:: Shirt (washed and dried for best results)
:: Freezer paper
:: Star stencil (use ours or create your own)
:: Craft knife
:: Cutting mat
:: Iron
:: Painter’s or masking tape
:: Acrylic paint
:: Toothbrushes
:: Lots of clean-up time
Create and attach stencil.
We made a star stencil out of freezer paper for each shirt. We simply traced a star onto the dull side of freezer paper—leaving several inches of extra paper around the star. Using a craft knife and cutting mat, we cut out the star. Then we positioned the freezer paper, shiny side down, onto the tee. For the big kid shirts, we selected the bottom side of the shirt, and for Baby Modette’s one-piece we centered the star on the chest. Iron the freezer paper onto the shirt according to manufacturer’s directions.
Prep shirts.
Under the star area, line the shirt with additional freezer paper (or any paper or grocery sack) to prevent the paint from bleeding through the shirt. Fold the shirt tightly so that only the star is exposed. We used painter’s tape to secure the folds underneath the shirt.
Splatter!
Here is where the mess and fun begin. We poured some paint onto plates, and gave each kid a toothbrush. We showed them the trick of using their thumb to splatter the paint. The rest is history.
Touch up.
Once the kids were done splattering, we brought out the dish scrubber for them to add final touches. They actually loved this just as much as splattering.
Oooh and ahhh!
Our shirts had quite the pile of paint, so we let them dry overnight. Once dry, we carefully peeled off the freezer paper stencil.
We can’t wait to wear them on the Fourth!
Hi Bettijo–
I have some questions about your gender reveal party you had a while back. Could you e-mail me? I thought it might be easier to correspond through e-mail than through comments. LMK. Thanks!
My e-mail is etamigo(at)cox.net.
Erin
What a great idea!! We might have to try this out next week.
SO CUTE! I love the shirts! Want to try this if we have the time!!
Bettijo!! That is SO cute!!
The girls wanted to wear their shirts last week, and now they’re washed up and ready for the 4th! Anyway, I just wanted to report that the shirts laundered beautifully. I was slightly worried since we did not use the special acrylic paint labeled for fabric painting, but instead used the cheaper acrylic craft paint (the kind you can get for about a buck a bottle). I figured it would still work and it did!
What wonderful tshirts, I am making some with the kiddos this afternoon, and will be sharing your tshirts with the kids for ideas thanks for sharing. I am also a new follower. Have a safe and wonderful Forth Of July!
Nicole