5 DIY Patriotic Shirts

4th of July is just around the corner and we wanted to try 5 different Patriotic shirts that kids can make. I scored a pack of 8 plain extra small tees at target for $9.49 - that's only $1.19 each! We only needed red and blue paint so we picked up some tulip paints at Hobby Lobby for 40% off so about $3.50 total. Each shirt will be less than $2 to make! That's my kind of deal. One shirt requires alcohol and sharpies, which we already have on hand. If you needed to purchase those, it would be about $5. One shirt requires shaving cream and a toothpick. I bought a t-shirt form made of cardboard because I knew I wanted to try to make 5 in one day (kid permitting) but you could easily put a scrap of cardboard inside the shirt to prevent bleeding through to the back of the shirt. When I decided to make this blog, I didn't want to just link and share other people's photos and projects. I wanted to try each one so I knew it was doable, fun and easy.

Follow the directions on your paint to heat set your designs if required. The tulip paint in slick finish I got says to let dry flat for 4 hours then it is washable after 72 hours.

1. Handprint and Stripes Shirt
Paint your child's hand blue and firmly stamp it somewhere near the top left of the shirt. Now draw lines using your red paint. I squirted the lines and then had Cole squish them down with his finger. We tried to put little round stickers on the blue, hoping it would leave white space for "stars." It did not work - don't bother :)

2. Handprint Flag Shirt
Paint the palm blue and the fingers red. Firmly stamp the hand then lift up carefully. Voila!

3. Red, White and Blue Star Shirt
I cut out a star shape on contact paper by hand instead of using my cricut. You could cut by hand or use a machine for a stencil. We squirted the paint at random in the star opening then squished it with a piece of cardboard and lifted it off to dry.

4. Fireworks Shirt
Cover a cookie sheet in shaving cream. Add squirts of red and blue fabric paint. Take a toothpick and drag from the center out to make "fireworks." Place your shirt in the shaving cream and carefully lift up. Scrape with a piece of cardboard and it's like magic! So neat!

5. Sharpie Tie Dye Shirt
Using a blue sharpie, draw some asterisks or stars in the top left. Switch to the red and draw wavy red lines leaving white space in between. Put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray the shirt. I did this part for fear of the alcohol getting sprayed in eyes and faces. Watch the ink bleed to give your shirt a cool tie dye look!

Which one is your favorite? I love how the star shirt came out. My model was uncooperative so I couldn't snap any pictures of the shirts being worn. Maybe in a few days I'll be able to!