Eraser Stamped Batman Shirt

Not to long ago I spied some t-shirts at the dollar store.  They had all kinds of sizes and colors so I grabbed a few knowing that decorating them would make a fun and inexpensive activity to do with my kids.  We used some of the shirts to make these festive patriotic shirts for the Fourth of July.  With the extras each of my children got to decide how they wanted to decorate their own shirt.

My super hero loving three year old decided that he wanted a batman shirt so batman it was!

He was super excited to wear his new shirt despite the long sleeves and the hot humid weather.



He was sure to wear what he calls his mean batman face as I snapped a few picture.  I just love this spunky and silly little boy!



Now that he has his mask, cape, and new shirt he's ready to go fight crime.  I found the batman mask on Amazon a few years ago for only $5 and the cape was another dollar store find.



I love how simple, fun, and fast these eraser stamped shirts are to make.

First things first--I washed the shirt.  This is always a good idea so it can preshrink.  It also washes away any chemicals on the fabric from manufacturing which may prevent the paint from being permanent.

To start out I traced and cut out the batman logo from freezer paper.  I then placed the shinny side of the logo onto the fabric and ironed it on using a medium setting.  Be sure to focus on the edges and points of the logo.  Iron for about 30 seconds to a minute.  The first time I used freezer paper for a project I applied a lot of heat and and lot of pressure and I couldn't get the freezer paper to come off of my fabric when I was done. I ruined my project.  Less is more here, but at the same time you want to make sure the paper is completely ironed on so no paint seeps under.

I then mixed in some textile medium to my black paint and used a new pencil eraser to stamp.  Be sure to place cardboard, wax paper, or freezer paper inside your shirt before you start stamping so the paint doesn't soak through to the back.  You really can't go wrong with the design.  I concentrated the dots more around the logo and then spaced them out as I got further away from it.

Once the paint drys you can peel away the freezer paper and your shirt is done!

Want more eraser stamped t-shirt ideas?  See the patriotic shirts we made here.

Stick People

I was recently working on some different projects in my guest room/craft room when in wandered my youngest son who is 3 1/2.  As we chatted I realized that it had been an awful long time since I'd done a craft with him.  This year has been non-stop and with kindergarten pick-up midday and a new baby in the house which just hadn't left a lot of time (or energy) for fun stuff.  I began to feel a little sad that the two of us hadn't done as many crafts as I did with his older brothers.  So right then and there I opened up a drawer with all sorts of craft supplies and we began.  No planning or prep.  Nothing thought of in advance.  We just started pulling out supplies and came up with something on the spot.  We had a great time!

We ended up making some little stick puppets.  We used popsicle sticks, googly eyes, tissue paper, construction paper, pipe cleaners, yarn, markers, and a little organza bag!  

My son was so proud of these little puppets.  He showed them to anyone who would look and listen to him. I guess what I learned is that you don't need a grand idea or even a ton of awesome supplies--just start creating and let your imagination run wild!  Your children will thank you!

Eraser Stamped Patriotic Shirts (Using Dollar Store Tees)

Hey, I just wanted to let you know that my book Quiet Book Patterns is on sale right now through Amazon for only $7.90!  This is the lowest price I've seen it selling for!  Now's a great time to grab a copy and buy one to give away as a gift too!  Purchase your copy here.
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The Fourth of July is one of my very favorite holiday's.  I love the parades, and the red, white, and blue, and the patriotic music, and the food and fireworks, and spending time with family.  This is a land that I love!

A few weeks when I was shopping I noticed the patriotic shirts on display.  As I was browsing through them I remembered that I had spied some t-shirts at the dollar store and thought it would be fun for my kids and I to make our own patriotic shirts for the fourth of July.  I mean for $1 why not?  Here is what we came up with inspired by this shirt that I saw at Target:






I love how they turned out and they were so simple to make.


First things first--I washed my shirts.  This is always a good idea so they can preshrink.  It also washes away any chemicals on the fabric from manufacturing which may prevent the paint from being permanent.  I still can't believe I snagged these tees at Dollar Tree! You really can't beat the prince for a fun craft project.  I was lucky to find one in each of my kids sizes and they even had some in my daughters size in a girl cut.  

To start out I traced and cut out a star from freezer paper.

I then placed the shinny side of the star onto the fabric and ironed it on using a medium setting.  Be sure to focus on the edges and points of the star.  Iron for about 30 seconds to a minute.  The first time I used freezer paper for a project I applied a lot of heat and and lot of pressure and I couldn't get the freezer paper to come off of my fabric when I was done. I ruined my project.  Less is more here, but at the same time you want to make sure the paper is completely ironed on so no paint seeps under.

I then mixed in some textile medium to my red and blue paint and used a new pencil eraser to stamp.  Be sure to place cardboard, wax paper, or freezer paper inside your shirt before you start stamping so the paint doesn't soak through to the back.

You really can't go wrong with the design.  I concentrated the dots more around the star and then spaced them out as I got further away from it.

Once the paint drys you can peel away the freezer paper and your shirt is done!

This project is very kid friendly.  My children had a blast making their very own fourth of July shirts.  Now they're busy making a bunch of red, white, and blue rainbow loom bracelets so once July fourth rolls around they'll have plenty of patriotic things to wear.

Cute kids.  Cute made-by-them shirts.

Since these dollar store shirts where such an incredible deal we grabbed a few more is different colors too.  Stay tuned to see what we made with those!

Recycled Train

The other day when my two oldest were at school and the baby was napping I decided my three year old and I needed to spend a little one-on-one time together doing something special.  It isn't that often that we do crafts so we pulled out the paints and some recyclable items and make this cute little choo-choo train.

This little guy loves to paint!  He was in heaven.  He had so much fun picking out what colors he wanted to use to paint his egg carton, and then when he was all done, mixing all the colors on his paint-pallet-plate together.

Once everything was painted we placed a toilet paper tube at the front to make a smoke stack with some cotton (or smoke) coming out of the top.  He was so pleased with his special creation that he made all by himself and we had so much fun spending time together.  It was time well spent.

Thankful Bunting

I love getting my boys in a thankful spirit during the month of November.  It's fun to have a visual reminder throughout the month.  One way to do that is a "Thankful Bunting."  I used the free printables from Jones Design Company to make this one.  I also added a little vinyl above it that I cut with my silhouette.

I love to see what my boys are most grateful  for . . . and their artwork that goes along with it!

We hung our bunting at the foot of the stairs so that we could see it every time we came downstairs.  I hung our cards on bakers twine with tiny clothespins.  I would love for you to share how you show thanks in your family!

Craft Stick Catapult

These craft stick catapults are fun and simple to put together and are a great boredom buster for when you're stuck indoors.

My boys had so much fun playing with their little catapults!

They had a great time seeing how high and how far they could shoot their pom-poms.

Want to have a blast with your own catapults?  Follow the instructions below to make your own!

Gather your supplies: large craft sticks, rubber bands, bottle caps, pom-pom balls (for launching)

Stack seven craft sticks together and bind them at each end using a rubber band.

In the center of your bound sticks place a stick at the top and underneath, perpendicular to the others.  Bind together with rubber bands as shown below.

Bind the tip closed with another rubber band.

Glue the bottle cap 1/2 inch from the end of the stick.  You will need room for your finger to pull back the stick and launch the pom-pom balls.

Have fun with your new catapult!

Gifts Kids Can Make: Fun Crayons

Our big quiet book giveaway ends tonight.  Be sure to enter here if you haven't had a chance yet.

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My 4-year-old and I had a great time making these crayons as a gift for his 6-year-old brother.  I read somewhere that it's best to use crayons that are not washable.  I also saw that cheap crayons do not work well.  So we went to the store and bought some new non-washable Crayola crayons for this project.  Little Mr. A was a great crayon-wrapper-peeler.

After getting all the paper off we broke the crayons into pieces that would fit into our silicone Lego mini-figure mold.  It was a little tricky to get enough crayon into each one but we got it to work.

We then set the silicone mold on a cookie sheet.  If you don't then when you grab them out of the oven the liquid crayon will spill!  We placed them in the oven (set at 225 degrees) for about 13 minutes.

Once the crayon was melted we let them cool.  After letting them sit for a few minutes I put them in the freezer to speed up the process! We popped them out of their mold and then placed them in an old stationary box.

Mr. A was so excited to give these as a gift to his older brother. His brother loves them!