I never dress my kids alike and I’m definitely one step behind when it comes to holiday inspired outfits. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever dressed my children appropriately or themed for any holiday except Christmas and Halloween. I’m THAT mom that realizes we are out of Easter eggs the day before the hunt. I’ve blogged about this known fact before and I’m TRYING to be better.

This year for the 4th of July we are taking a family trip to the Frio River. It’s the first family vacation for my sister’s family and my family combined. Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped. And what better way to show my enthusiasm than making 4th of July shirts for all the kids?!

 

What you need:

  • Old White T-shirt or Tank (FREE): I happened to have old plain white t’s, but you can find inexpensive ones at Old Navy if you are in a pinch.
  • Painter’s Tape {about ½-1” thick} (FREE): I recommend buying this at a Home Depot or Lowe’s, it’s cheaper than a craft store.
  • Red Spray Paint {safe for fabric} ($5.99): I bought Krylon brand, but you can use any fabric safe spray paint. These cans come in a smaller and cheaper option. I bought the large ones, but you can totally get away with the smaller cans for this project. And again, recommended to purchase at a Home Depot or Lowe’s.
  • Blue Spray Paint {safe for fabric} (FREE-I happened to have some from a previous project): See above.
  • Stars ($1.99): If you want to keep the cost down, you can print your own stars and tape them on to the shirt. If you’re like me and lazy, you’ll buy star stickers.
  • Old Magazines or card envelopes (FREE): You will need these to section off the shirt for spray painting.

How to get started:

  • Take your clean shirt and place an old magazine, cardboard, or something inside it to prevent paint bleeding through.
  • Start cutting tape to create your stripes. You only need to go ¾ of the way towards the top to leave room for the star section and all the way across towards the bottom. The photographs should help.
  • Completely cover the section left for the stars. I used old card envelopes.
  • Take the shirt outside and lay on an old sheet or towel. Make sure to anchor your sheet with rocks if it’s a windy day.
  • Start spraying with red spray paint. It doesn’t take a lot of spray paint and you don’t have to spray so that there’s 100% coverage. The more paint on the shirt, the more stiff the shirt so I applied only 1 coat, but made sure there wasn’t too much white showing through.
  • I let my shirt dry for about 30 minutes and then brought it inside, peeled off all the tape and started working on the star section. I found that the tape and stuff was stickier (wet) than the actual fabric so be careful when pulling your tape off if you’re impatient like me.
  • Completely cover your stripes- I used magazine paper and taped it to where it perfectly met up with my star section.
  • Randomly place star stickers all over the white section of the shirt.
  • Take back outside and make sure your stripes are completely covered to avoid blue over-spray.
  • Spray your star section with blue spray paint.
  • Again, I let this dry for about 30 minutes and then brought it in and pulled all the paper, tape, and stickers off.

Voila!

The paint will be mostly dry (dry enough to work with), but I would let it sit anywhere from 12-24 hours prior to washing. I photographed the kids prior to washing the shirts so these are unwashed. Start to finish, this project took me a few hours; however, I also made 3 shirts. I spent under $10.

So now my kids are completely ready for our 4th of July trip to the Frio! I made a shirt for my niece and nephew (not photographed) too so our clan will be 100% festive for this summer holiday! WINNING!

Saylor & Lincoln

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