May. 25, 2007
Fun with Bleach?
Posted in Crafts, Sewing, Cooking, Etc...
Can bleach be fun??? You bet! LOL Yesterday the kids and I made
Nature T-shirts. I saw this idea years ago when I use to get Family Fun Magazine. Every year at the start of Summer we make some kind of t-shirts. Usually we tye-dye.I like the kids to have matching t-shirts because when we go on field trips it is easier to keep an eye on them if they are all dresses alike. This year
Micheal's had these really nice cotton color t-shirts on sale for $2.00 each! So I decided now was the time to try this:
We started out by laying our t-shirts out flat in the sun. Then we collected leaves, palm fronds, sticks and anything else that was an interesting shape from the trees and bushes in our yard.
The kids laying out their patterns.
This is for my 3 year old, We were going for a smiley face!
This is what my 12 year old designed.
And here is my 6 year olds design.
After the pattern is all laid out Mom put some bleach in a spray bottle and misted the shirts! We left them sitting in the sun for about 5 minutes and then they went into the washing machine. I ran them through the washing machine twice. Once without soap and once with soap.
Here is the one we made for Dad. (Shhhh..Don't tell him, he's getting it for Father's Day.) This one we used just palm fronds. I love how it looks!
And here are my kiddos in their finished masterpieces!
And YES my daughter was being just as rotten as she looks in this picture!!!!
The boys decided to be more cooperative...
The smiley face idea didn't work as well as we had hoped. I think the key to these is that more is more! LOL They really look better the more stuff you put on them. He really is proud of what he made and likes it just fine. So, to me that's all that really matters!
Pretty cool, huh? (And much easier than tye-dye!) I still love to tye-dye though...
P.S.
The Cheerio Queen brought up an excellent point in the comment she left after I posted this. Here it is:
One tip you may want to tell your readers is that this project is better on darker colored shirts. Our troop did it on light pink shirts and we could barely see the prints at all...so we wound up tie dying them later. but great tip!
your kids are so cute!
Jenna
http://thecheerioquenn.blogspot.com/
P.S again...
Several people have asked if I made one of these for me. The answer is no. I am not a fan of regular t-shirts for me. They cut into my neck and drive me crazy! So, I didn't make me one.
Although I have thought about taking a pair of scissors to the neckline and trying to redesign it! LOL
P.S. one more time! LOL
Karen (& others) asked:
Do you dilute the bleach or use it full strength?
And the answer is...YES! You use it full strength, then you need to make sure to watch it and when it seems faded enough for you get it into water. I had the washing machine already filled with water and then ran the shirts in one at a time and got them soaking as we worked on the next one. The when all the shirts were in the washing machine I ran it once with no soap and then the 2nd time with soap.
Anymore questions?
Click
HERE to see our
HOME'S COOL t-shirt's made with this same method.
Comments
May. 25, 2007 - nature tshirts.
Posted by the cheerio queen
You know I am glad you posted this...our brownie troop just recently tried to do this for their horsebackriding fieldtrip which they had earned for selling so many cookies. My co-leaders daughter did this with her troop first so that is where she got the idea. her daughters looked so cute! they took out foams in different shapes but I love the nature idea. the only thing they did different was after putting on the bleach they soaked it in a vinegar water bath first and then washed it as normal.
One tip you may want to tell your readers is that this project is better on darker colored shirts. Our troop did it on light pink shirts and we could barely see the prints at all...so we wound up tie dying them later. but great tip!
your kids are so cute!
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May. 25, 2007 - nature tshirts.
Posted by the cheerio queen
You know I am glad you posted this...our brownie troop just recently tried to do this for their horsebackriding fieldtrip which they had earned for selling so many cookies. My co-leaders daughter did this with her troop first so that is where she got the idea. her daughters looked so cute! they took out foams in different shapes but I love the nature idea. the only thing they did different was after putting on the bleach they soaked it in a vinegar water bath first and then washed it as normal.
One tip you may want to tell your readers is that this project is better on darker colored shirts. Our troop did it on light pink shirts and we could barely see the prints at all...so we wound up tie dying them later. but great tip!
your kids are so cute!
Jenna
http://thecheerioquenn.blogspot.com/
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May. 25, 2007 - did you make one
Posted by msack
for your self as well?
This is a neat project. We are going to try this soon. Right now we are learing about the forest so this will tie right in.
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May. 25, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Those are so cool! My girls would enjoy this ... I'm going to have to grab a couple dark t-shirts next time I'm at the store. What fun! Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer
http://house-hill.blogspot.com/
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May. 25, 2007 - Very Cool!
Posted by redmom
I think we might try that. I really like your husbands. How much bleach did you put in the bottle?
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May. 26, 2007 - cool!
Posted by jewls2texas
This is totally awesome - and I can't wait to do it! Did you make one for YOU too!!!?
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May. 26, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by KarenW
How fun! We are going to have to try those. Do you dilute the bleach or use it full strength? Thanks for sharing!
http://www.woodward-family.com/karenwoodward/blog.html
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May. 29, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Very fun idea! Great pics, too. I think we'll give it a try.
Sherry
http://redbudslane.blogspot.com
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Aug. 15, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
We made my dd her shirt this weekend and it turned out great! Thanks again for sharing all your neat crafts, plans, etc.
Dana, www.alexml.blogpot.com
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Oct. 11, 2007 - Beautiful
Posted by Jes
I can't wait to make mine - thanks for the inspiration
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Sep. 3, 2008 - bleached t-shirts
Posted by Tinab
i hope you don't mind...i put a link to your site about the bleached shirt on my blog. we just did ours in awana at church and i wanted to share where i got the idea. if i need to remove it, please let me know.
thanks!!
tina
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