May 28, 2012 – The Frugal Crafter Blog

Howdy folks! I know it is late, we had a busy day today with all the kids marching (or scooting rather) in the parade. The kids and I made some fancy shirts to wear today, don’t we look stylish…and yes, I am rocking a fanny pack LOL! C’mon, they are so practical, can’t we forsake fashion and bring back the fanny pack?!?

Incase you want to make some of these star-spangled shirts I made a video…not one of my best but hey, that can’t all be perfect (heck, who am I kidding, I’ve NEVER shot a perfect video…OK it’s probably par for the corse) so if you have 17 minutes to kill have a look 🙂

Basic T-shirt instructions: You will need white t-shirts (you can use ones with stains on them, it is a great way to revamp your wardrobe or get a 3 pack of white tees from a department store, the ones I got for the kids were youth large from Hanes, $5.47 for 3) and spray fabric paint. I used this set from Oriental Trading or just mix acrylic paint with water (the consistency of whole milk) and put it in a dollar store spray bottle and you are good to go. You will need masking tape and contact paper for the stencils.

Place a large piece of cardboard inside your T-shirt to make it flat and to keep paint from leaking through to the back.
Cut stars from contact paper and stick them to your shirt. Stick strips of masking tape where you want stripes.
Spray blue paint or dye on the stars and red dye on the stripes.
Remove the tape and stars and let dry.
Repeat on the back side if you like (we did and it looked great!)
Rinse the nozzles of the spray bottles in cool water, spritz some clear water through the pump to prevent it from clogging.

Well. that was easy, I guess I did not need to make a video LOL! 😀 Here is a look at the shirts and shoes we made. I found plain white and black canvas shoes at Wal-Mart and they are as fun to paint on as…well, a blank canvas!