Hand Painted Flag Shirts

Hand painted shirts were a classic activity at my family reunions growing up. There would be 30 cousins running around in them for the 4th of July festivities, each with their own unique design.

I thought it was fun 20+ years ago and I'm still loving it. There's something about creating your own master piece that just makes my kids and me happy.

My son wore his shirt proudly all day yesterday, even with dribbles of orange Popsicle down the front. As soon as he woke up this morning the dirty shirt went back on. (Do you think he'll protest when I demand he removes it to be washed?) My 7 year old daughter keeps telling me about the many different days she can wear shirt - Flag Day, Veterans Day, Labor Day, Independence Day and every night for pajamas.


Go grab some supplies and help your kids make a shirt they can wear with pride this Independence Day! They'll love you for it.

Supplies you'll need:  

Plain white cotton t-shirts, washed and dried - no fabric softener. (I got a pack of 5 shirts in the boys section of Walmart for about $5-6.)
Paper bag or cardboard for each shirt, cut to to size if needed
Masking or painters tape
A few new sponges
Acrylic paint, blue & red, fabric paint is great too, but I couldn't find it in the right colors
Star cookie cutter or paper for star template
A few paper plates
Scissors


1. Prep: First you'll need to slip the paper bag or cardboard in between the layers of the shirts so no paint will leak through. Also trace your star template on the sponge and cut it out (I printed my star off the Internet). The size of the star depends on the design you want. Our stars are about 1.5 inches wide. Also cut out several chunks of sponge for painting the lines (shown in step 3).

2. Design and Tape: Plan out your flag design. I just eye-balled my projects and laid the tape out. Be sure to make a clean vertical edge with your tape to square off those lines.

3. Paint: My kids did the actually painting. I just showed them which lines to paint in. 

Dabbing the paint on rather than spreading gives better results. Too much paint makes the shirt stiff and brittle.

5. Drying Time: Once your painting is complete the shirts need to dry. We left ours out in the sun for the afternoon and them brought them inside at night. A blow dryer can speed up that process too.

6. Remove Tape: Once dry carefully peel off the tape, remove the bag/cardboard and enjoy the beauty of your creation.

7. Heat Set: Because my paint was acrylic and not fabric paint I wanted to set the paint a little more. I tossed the shirts in the dryer with an old bath towel on high heat for 1 hour. 

8. Washing: At first my kids complained that the shirts were itchy. The paint does make them a bit stiff so I washed them in cold water with a towel and a little soap. The paint didn't bleed at all and they were much more comfortable to wear.






Your shirts are finished! I'm pretty sure your kids will be the cutest thing at your 4th of July party or parade next weekend!