How to make a Light box the quick easy way!! With a T-Shirt! No Sew! No Glue!

 If you have ever wanted to sell something online or do anything online for that matter you know that the picture will literally make or break you. I have read tons of articles touting the importance of awesome professional looking pictures. A light box is a great way to ensure better pictures. Here is how to make one quick and easy with no sew and no glue using a T-shirt!!

What you will need:

8 16 inch long 1/2 inch PVC pipe pieces

4 1/2 inch PVC pipe cut to 14 inches long

8 1/2 inch to thread adapters

8 1/2 inch 3 way 2 slip and 1 thread

duct tape

white poster board cut to 16 inches x 28 inches

1 XXL white t shirt

2 clip lights with flexible necks

Step 1: thread together the 1/2 inch threaded pieces 

Repeat 8 times

Step 2: Place the slip to thread adapters onto the 14 inch pieces and repeat 4 times

Step 3: Connect 2 16 inch pieces into the the slips and repeat to create 4 corners

 Step 4: place so that one of the 14 inch pieces is on the bottom or on the floor

Step 5: without creasing the pre cut poster board use duct tape to tape the posterboard (matte side NOT shinny side up) to the top rear and bottom front PVC pieces

 Step 6: Place T shirt hem opening over the cube so that the neck and arms are behind the poster board

 Tada!!

 Clip on your lights so you have one shinning on the top and one shinning on the sides

Without light box

with light box

with light box

Now go  take a ton of beautiful backgroundless (is that a word??) pics!! Need help? Feel free to contact me!! I'd love to talk! 

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!