We "Heart" T-Shirts

I like to sew things onto T-shirts.  Plain T-shirts are cheap and seeing your kids wear something you kind-of made is just too fun.  I saw this idea for painting a heart on a shirt somewhere out there in cyperspace.  If I could remember where, I'd link you to it...sorry person who had this idea!!

Materials:

• Plain T-shirt (I have had the best luck finding shirts with NOTHING on them at Walmart)
• Fabric paint (I used Jacquard Textile Paint that I found at Joann's.  $3.99 and I used a 40% off coupon!)
• Paper heart doily
• Paintbrush
• Rolling pin
• Extra piece of paper

Before doing anything to a T-shirt, make sure to wash it first...get any shrinking out of the way.  In addition, if you are putting fabric on it, wash the fabric first for the same reason.

Cover the doily with paint, getting all the little cracks and crevices. 

Put the doily paint side down on the shirt, cover with a sheet of paper, and give it a good roll to transfer the paint.

Now for Eli...would you believe that I could not find a manly heart doily anywhere?  I tried dipping a heart cookie cutter in the fabric paint and then pressed it onto some scrap fabric, but I didn't like it.  I then decided to make a "stencil" of sorts.

That's right four-year old girls...don't forget it.  He'll be wearing one of these at sixteen too.

I dabbed the paint onto the shirt using a spongy paint brush.  I was really pleased with how this turned out.  The color was vibrant and the lines were well defined.

Let the paint dry and then follow the directions on the jar of textile paint.  Mine had to be set with a hot iron.  I did wash both shirts in cold water as I was curious how the paint would hold up.  AMAZING!  No change in the color after the wash.

Sadly, I found that cute shirts does not guarantee happy kids that are willing to take a cute picture.  Sigh...

How I love my little, funny Valentines.

This is absolutely not just for kids.  Make a shirt for yourself...or pillowcases...or towels...or something to put in a cheap frame and hang up...or curtains...or, dare I say, underwear.