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Monday, March 5, 2012

DIY: Freezer Paper Stencil Custom Shirt

Well.  Hey there.

Just popping in to show this cute and easy shirt I made for Gavin last weekend.  (Wish I could stay and chat longer, but my report cards are due.  It's that time of year!)

We had a Sing-a-Long birthday party for the twins on Sunday.  They're going to be five on Thursday.  FIVE!  In my head, I still picture this all of the time, and count my innumerable blessings:




Thankfully, they fattened up pretty fast those first weeks in the NICU, and there's no end in sight.  (For those new to this blog, you can read old posts dating back to the early days to get a glimpse of what life was like with preemie twins.)

Back to the shirt.  Since it was a sing-a-long theme, and since a talented friend of mine was singing her original children's songs to entertain the kids, I wanted Gavin to have a cool shirt to go with the theme of the day.

I started with a cheap navy t-shirt from Old Navy and this free stencil from the Acire Adventures blog.

I photocopied the stencil to scale it down a little and traced it onto the flat (not shiny) side of good ol' freezer paper.  Then I used an exacto knife to cut it out, placed it shiny-side down on the t-shirt, and ironed for about 30 seconds until the paper stuck to the shirt.  Please excuse the iPhone photo.  I was charging my Nikon battery!


Originally, I was just going to use light blue fabric paint to stencil the design, but I went with a bleach pen instead.



I waited about 10 minutes, and then peeled the paper off like a big sticker.  To get the smaller, peskier parts of the stencil off, I had to use the tip of the exacto knife.

I immediately rinsed the bleach off of the shirt, and then washed it in cold water by itself.  I always worry about "stray" bleach getting on other clothes.

I think my birthday boy looked adorable.  And tall.



As always, thanks for reading!

9 comments:

  1. I've never been much of a crafty person, but this shirt turned out wonderful. I love to shop at Hobby Lobby and watch my sister make things ;-) And this is very inexpensive too.

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  2. What a cute shirt I love it i need to make one for my little boy. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I featured your "fabric ottoman" over at my "This Weeks Pinterest Loves" post today. I would love for you to come and check it out and grab a featured button from my blog.
    http://tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com/2012/04/im-back-this-weeks-pinterest-loves-19.html

    Have a beautiful Weekend
    Whitney Ulrich
    A mommy's life...with a touch of YELLOW
    tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can relate to you and your twins being in the NICU. My daughter wasn't premature but she was born with a condition called Meconium Aspiration Syndrome. The first bowl movement a baby has is called Meconium. It is a black sticky bowl that they are suppose to have after they are born. My daughter had her first bowl moment while she was still in the womb and breath in the Meconium. It was in her lungs and she had to be flown to another hospital in another town to be put on a ECMO machine. She was in the hospital for a month and a half it was really hard on me and my husband to see our baby that way. Now she's 10 months old and is doing just fine just like your twins. It is such a blessing to see them walking around healthy and being regular boys.

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  4. Love the t-shirt. Thanks for linking back, Amy! You also have great taste in names... I have a Gavin too :)

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  5. Men's T-Shirts are very easy. No curves to deal with and no small sleeves to sew. I am looking forward to seeing what you'll make for yourself. I am trying, too.


    Men T Shirts

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  6. I think you mean "sing-along" (so called because the object is to sing ALONG with others), not "Sing-a-Long." There's also no need to capitalize, as it's not a proper noun (just a regular old garden-variety noun).

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  9. How fast is that?! In just 10 minutes, you had yourself a customized shirt. =) This must be the coolest gift Gavin received on his birthday. Is the maintenance for the design the same as with digital prints that need special care for the design to stick longer on to the shirt?

    Lissette Monroe

    ReplyDelete