FUN T-SHIRT PROJECT!

Our whole family gathered at our cabin over the 4th of July weekend.  It's always fun when we can come up with an activity that everyone can do together.  This year my daughter and her boys had a patriotic t-shirt project that everyone really enjoyed and, in the end, we all had a souvenir to take home!
Although our shirts had a red, white and blue theme with stars and stripes, any theme would work.  If you have a birthday, family reunion, themed dinner, Bible School theme, or whatever, you can adapt this project to fit the occasion.   All you need is a t-shirt for each person, fabric paint, masking tape and, perhaps, some stickers that will leave negative shapes on the shirt when they are painted over and removed.  We used star stickers and letters on some of our shirts.

We began by using the masking tape to outline a "frame" for our pattern.  Some frames were square, some rectangular, some star shaped.  Next we added tape within the frame to create stripes or to divide off areas to put our star stickers in.  One person used letter stickers to add the initials of some family members.  Foam stickers come in many shapes.  You could be creative and include them on your own t-shirt  in various ways.

Next we painted our shirts.  We inserted a piece of paper under the front of our shirt so the paint wouldn't bleed through to the back of our shirt.  Using foam brushes, we painted between the stripes of tape and over the star stickers.  After the shirts were dry  we removes the masking tape and the star stickers.  Presto!  We had great 4th of July attire!

Everyone in the family had a great time designing and painting their t-shirts.  Only the one and a half year old didn't participate.  But we did make him a great shirt.

Choose and theme and try this project with your family or party!  I think you'll have a great time!