**Getting Creative - Guest post by Crystal Allen**
Looking for something fun to do
with your child on a rainy day? Try designing some T-shirts together that your
child can wear with pride. Half the fun in making clothes for your kids is
being able to design them together; the other half is seeing your design come
to life when your child wears her shirt with a big smile on her face. Try a few
different designs you can make with your child to give her some fun new
T-shirts to wear this summer.
1. Microwavable Tie-Dye Shirts
You might have made tie-dye shirts
when you were younger, but microwaves have made the process much easier and
kid-friendly. Tie a white T-shirt in knots or wrap rubber bands around the
shirt in several places to make circle designs. Put your shirt in a
microwavable glass bowl filled with enough fabric dye to cover the shirt. Cover
the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave on high for two minutes.
Rinse the shirt thoroughly in cold water and take off the rubber bands for a
new way to tie dye!
2. Iron-On Coloring Pictures
Buy some fabric crayons at the
craft store and pick out some favorite coloring pictures with your child. There
are many free ones on the internet that you can print off if you don't have any
favorite coloring books. Color the pages with your fabric crayons, making sure
to outline the lines in black crayon if you want them to show up on your shirt.
Lay your shirt on an ironing board, putting some blank pieces of paper inside
the shirt so the color won't soak through to the back. Put your colored page
face-down on the shirt, cover with more paper, and iron the design onto the
shirt for a new shirt that's ready to wear!
3. Computer Program Designs
If your child likes making pictures
with your computer's Paint program, let him design his own shirt. It can be a
work of abstract art, clip art images, or whatever he wants to wear. Print the
page onto a piece of iron-on transfer paper and add his latest work of art to a
shirt so he can proudly show everyone the design he made on his own.
4. Puffy Paint Creations
There is no rule that says your
child's T-shirts need to have structured images on them. Creating a fun T-shirt
can be almost as easy as finger painting a picture to hang on your refrigerator
door. Lay some newspaper down on a table or your living room floor, put your
blank shirt on top of the paper and get to work. All you need are some puffy
paints, glitter, and other fabric paints to make a fun shirt displaying your
child's name and some of her favorite things.
Summer T-shirts don't need to be
fancy. Designing and making your own shirts with your children on a rainy day
can give you a fun activity to do together while you wait for clearer skies.
