Slightly OT... Need t-shirt craft ideas quickly

[pjlla]

The Arts and Crafts board is too slow right now and I need an answer within the next day or two.

We always do a t-shirt craft project with the kids every year on our annual family vacation... but this year we have hit the wall, idea-wise. I need suggestions.

The criteria... must be fairly easy, fairly cheap, and able to be done with minimal adult help.... kids are ages 9 - 17, mixed male/female. Preferably requiring white t-shirts and preferably begun and finished in the same day (not a lot of room for shirts to lay around drying).

What we have done in the past and would prefer not to repeat....

tie-dying, reverse tie-dying (with bleach), flour/water paste resist using spray fabric paints, Sharpie/alcohol spray, rubber stamp, sponge painting.

We have come up with an idea or two for this year, but one doesn't seem very good for boys (transparent spray paint over leaves) and one seems a bit messy and complicated (crayon batiking). But we will go with one of these if we have to.

Any ideas/suggestions? Thanks so much in advance.............P

 

[TifffanyD]

You could buy some of the iron on adhesive sheets, have adults iron the backing onto different fabrics then t he kids can trace shapes and cut them out of the fabrics they want. Then they can peel off the paper backing and place on the shirt how they want... then adult can iron everything into place. That's not too much adult supervision, I hope. The fabrics can be prepped in advance so all the kids have to do is decorate and then the adult does the final set.

Make sure to get the no-sew iron on sheets if you do this. Like this:

Heat'n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive- 17''x12''

You can get a big roll of it though, and use a coupon. And for fabric you can get some of the fat quarters in fun colors

 

[robinb]

That's a good idea Tiffany! I am in the same boat as the OP and I was going to go back to the flour and water resist but with a dark t-shirt instead of white.

ETA: So ... the iron-on transfers are "sticky" on both sides? So you peel one side and iron onto the fabric of your choice and then cut out your pattern and then peel the other side and iron on the cut outs to your t-shirt? That does sound pretty cool.

 

[TifffanyD]

That's a good idea Tiffany! I am in the same boat as the OP and I was going to go back to the flour and water resist but with a dark t-shirt instead of white.

ETA: So ... the iron-on transfers are "sticky" on both sides? So you peel one side and iron onto the fabric of your choice and then cut out your pattern and then peel the other side and iron on the cut outs to your t-shirt? That does sound pretty cool.

Yes that's almost how they are. More like, there is a backing paper and the other side is "sticky" (not really sticky - it just has the cold glue on it). So you iron that side down on the back (important! haha) of the fabric. So no peeling yet. Then you have the backing paper you can draw on or just cut out... then you can peel the paper off and iron the other side. It's really easy to use... and there are instructions on the label.

Imagine it coming kind of like a fruit roll up... with the edibly part being the adhesive

In the past I have printed shapes (and letters) off the computer and traced them onto the paper to cut out... so it's really easy to get stencils of anything you want for it.

 

[daemom]

If you'd like to spray paint the shirts, let the girls do the leaves and let the boys just scrunch the shirts up and paint them. Get two or three different colors (that look good together) and let them go at it. Go to YouTube and search for spray dyeing shirts. It looks like something boys would like and very easy to do. Good luck! It is VERY difficult finding something different to do.

 

[DisneyArk]

A few years ago we did sun painting with a group of kids. I've included a link below with instructions. Basically, the sun intensifies the colors and so the areas that are covered are lighter. The boys loved using leaves and a few homemade stencils and the girls loved using flowers.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/sun_paint.html

 

[wtpfan]

Wow...I'm so glad I stumbled upon this thread...I always make matching shirts for our family Disney trips and have never seen the sun painting idea/I love it! I'm going to try it next time...Thanks so much!

 

[pjlla]

A few years ago we did sun painting with a group of kids. I've included a link below with instructions. Basically, the sun intensifies the colors and so the areas that are covered are lighter. The boys loved using leaves and a few homemade stencils and the girls loved using flowers.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/sun_paint.html

I have seen that done before (or something like it) and it is beautiful. Unfortunately I wouldn't have time to order the supplies (I need them by Saturday morning).... and it seems a bit pricey for the supplies I would need to do at least 9 t-shirts. Plus it is dependent on good weather, which we couldn't guarantee... and we don't have a lot of space to let these things sit around for day drying....but maybe next year. I bookmarked the link. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

You could buy some of the iron on adhesive sheets, have adults iron the backing onto different fabrics then t he kids can trace shapes and cut them out of the fabrics they want. Then they can peel off the paper backing and place on the shirt how they want... then adult can iron everything into place. That's not too much adult supervision, I hope. The fabrics can be prepped in advance so all the kids have to do is decorate and then the adult does the final set.

Make sure to get the no-sew iron on sheets if you do this. Like this:

Heat'n Bond Ultra Hold Iron-On Adhesive- 17''x12''

You can get a big roll of it though, and use a coupon. And for fabric you can get some of the fat quarters in fun colors

I did think about doing something like this... especially since I'm a scrapper and I have both a Cricut and a Sizzix available to help me cut designs. But I would like the kids to have something similar in design or some sort of theme and I couldn't figure out exactly what. I'll look at it again though.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to post an idea... I really appreciate it!..........P

 

[TifffanyD]

I have seen that done before (or something like it) and it is beautiful. Unfortunately I wouldn't have time to order the supplies (I need them by Saturday morning).... and it seems a bit pricey for the supplies I would need to do at least 9 t-shirts. Plus it is dependent on good weather, which we couldn't guarantee... and we don't have a lot of space to let these things sit around for day drying....but maybe next year. I bookmarked the link. Thanks for taking the time to post it.



I did think about doing something like this... especially since I'm a scrapper and I have both a Cricut and a Sizzix available to help me cut designs. But I would like the kids to have something similar in design or some sort of theme and I couldn't figure out exactly what. I'll look at it again though.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to post an idea... I really appreciate it!..........P

Oh since you have a cricut!

What about freezer paper shirts? You can cut the templates out (the designs) on freezer paper, then you iron them on the shirt. Then you can use fabric paint in the stencil area, let dry, and peel off paper. Then possibly heat set the paint (depending on what kind you use)

Everyone could have the same stencils but vary the colors and how they paint them

 

[PiperPizzaz]

I was going to suggest freezer paper shirts too. It is super easy on the cricut. Make sure the paint dries before you pull the paper off the shirts. Also, I like to use the ink instead of the paint (at my JoAnn's it is in little tubes by where they sell the Tshirts).

 

[Local_Girl]

Haven't done this yet, but I plan to try a combination of the freezer paper/bleach idea...after cutting the design out of freezer paper, instead of using the stencil part of it (with the design as the hole), I'm going to use the part that was cut out. I'll place pieces on the shirt where I want them, and then use a fine spray of bleach (I've seen 50/50 bleach/water recommended) to outline the pieces. Of course I'd be starting with colored shirts, and I'm also considering using a bleach pen (for treating laundry; gel type is apparently best) to do additional stuff on the shirts.

Again, I haven't tried this yet, but if you Google search you can see what some folks have done.

 

[pjlla]

trying to find this thread!

 

[thewesterberg]

I know it's past your needing ideas right now, but maybe for next year or for someone else it might help...

If you go to familyfun.go.com and search "t-shirt" a bunch of different ideas come up - some that have already been mentioned plus some other ones.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

I did one from familyfun years ago with kids at skate camp. Buy the little star stickers at an office suppyl store and some electrical tape. Place the stars across the top of the shirt however the kids want to place them and run the tape in stripes across the bottom of the shirt. Mix blue and red fabric paint with a textile medium. Sponge the blue paint over the stars to cover the top of the shirt blue and sponge the red over the stripes. Let dry and the peel off the stars and stripes.

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/craf.../t-shirt-decorations/reverse-stencils-710768/

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/craf...decorations/thumbprint-garden-t-shirt-667721/

 

[katlas&kids]

This is what happens when I come in late! This is my familyfun suggestion:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/friendly-face-t-shirt-663509/

I like it cause it is family oriented & the whole group could do it or just the kids!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

This is what happens when I come in late! This is my familyfun suggestion:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/friendly-face-t-shirt-663509/

I like it cause it is family oriented & the whole group could do it or just the kids!

This is really cute! You could give them all mouse ears

 

[stm61]

A few years ago we did sun painting with a group of kids. I've included a link below with instructions. Basically, the sun intensifies the colors and so the areas that are covered are lighter. The boys loved using leaves and a few homemade stencils and the girls loved using flowers.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/sun_paint.html

how many shirts can be made from a bottle of paint? I've got a class of 10 kids, plus 3 adults. Wondering if this would be affordable.