Quick and Easy Fourth of July t-shirts

Every year our neighborhood does a pancake breakfast and bike parade on the 4th of July. It is great neighborhood fun! Everyone dresses up and goes crazy with the bike decorating. We always wear something patriotic. So this year I decided to do a little DIY for the kids shirts. I wanted something quick and fun that Lola and I could do together. It was a fun little girls date! Check out what I came up with.

These are the finished product. I think the kids like them!

We started with a plain white tee. I should have laundered them before stamping them to get the sizing out. But I like living on the edge! It will probably effect the way they wash up though.

The other supplies:

foam star stickers

painters tape

multi-surface paint

foam paint brushes  

To make the star stamps we used the foam stickers and stuck a bunch together to make them easier to grip and stamp with. They turned out to be perfect! No need to try and get a perfect little star cut out from foam.

To make the lines I used painters tape to tape off the areas I wanted to paint. I used a little piece of tape as a guide to space the stripes a little better. We put a layer of thick butcher paper inside the shirts to avoid the paint bleeding through to the back of the shirts.

Then the painting and stamping started. We did a couple practice runs using the star stamps and away we went. It was definitely easier to cover the star stamps with paint and then stamp them down. Dipping them in the paint caused a bit of an overload of paint and uneven stamping. We also sponged the red for the stripes. It was easier to dab it on than to paint it on. The stroking caused the tape to move around and caused an uneven stripe. Make sure that you remove the tape before the paint dries completley. It gets hard to peel it off once it is dry. Let them dry completely and then put on!

 They turned out pretty cute!

Quick and easy. Lola and I finished them up in about an hour. She loved getting to make her own shirt. And I loved spending the time with her! We haven't washed them yet so I am not sure how they will wash up. I intend to wash them separately just in case they bleed. The paint is a little stiff but nothing that would stop the kids from wearing them. I am hoping that it softens up a bit. They were fun too make. And they will be perfect for celebrating the fourth!