Freezer Paper Stencil T's

 

This summer, when I was staying with my sister for a week, we stenciled T-shirts with the kids.  I had been seeing things online about freezer paper stencils and I really wanted to try it out. It sounded pretty fun and relatively easy.  And, because my husband is a hunter, freezer paper is something we have laying around the house.  Bonus! Also, because I was at my sisters, we were able to use her Cricut to cut out the shapes we wanted.  At my house I probably would have had to do it by hand. 

Genius!

 

 

Supplies:

*Freezer Paper (sorry no picture) You can find it in the same aisle as aluminum foil and cling wrap.

*A way to cut out a stencil or desired design - we used the Cricut but you could do it by hand with an Exacto knife.

*T-shirt - I found ours at JoAnn fabrics for less than $3.00 each

*T-shirt paint - we used Tulip Brand

*Paint applicators

*Iron

 

After cutting out your desired design, you then place it on your t-shirt shiny side down. Use your iron to secure it to the shirt. It won't take too long

 

 

 

Place some kind of paper or protective barrier between the layers of your t-shirt to prevent the paint from bleeding through.

It's time to start applying the paint:

 

 

We put a small amount of paint in a small plastic cup and used the paint pouncers to apply it.  It was important to make sure you put a thick enough layer of paint on if you wanted it to be a uniform color.

 

 

I especially wanted a thick enough coat of paint with the white paint I was applying on the dark blue t-shirt. I wanted to make sure that the bird really 'popped' and  didn't look washed out at all.

 

When you are all done painting, carefully peel up the freezer paper.  Be very careful that none of the paper with wet paint on it accidentally touches your t-shirt.  The freezer paper made a really good seal and we didn't have any problems with bleeding through the lines.  It left a very crisp picture.

Set your finished t-shirt aside and let it dry completely.

Be sure to read the instructions on your paint bottle, some of the paint needs to be heat set before you wash it.

Here are all of the designs we made that day.

 

 

Although this was a craft activity that the kids couldn't do all of the steps on, they still enjoyed it and really loved wearing their shirts when they were all done.

I thought it was a pretty simple craft overall with a really good result. I was slightly stressed as I was helping them paint, just making sure they didn't spread the paint on the outside of their stencil or gob it on too thick, but that's just me.

I bought 4 small bottles of paint and I have enough paint after making all of these shirts to do the same amount of shirts all over again.  The paint stretches pretty far. At only about $1.75 a bottle, that's a pretty good value.

I really like the results of the shirt I made for myself and think it looks really nice. It would be hard to tell it apart from a store bought shirt.

So, I encourage you to get some freezer paper and some t-shirt paint.  The possibilities are endless and the results could be amazing!

Craft on people, craft on!

-Jana

Pintsperation - Candle Stick make over

 

 

I got this idea off of Pinterest. But of course I've no idea where it is now.

So let me tell you what I did.

If you like it, you can do it too.

 

I was at the local Goodwill when I stumbled upon this truly hideous candle stick.

 It looks like it would have been in a room decorated with pastel clowns.

I'm not sure what the previous owner was thinking. Or the manufacturer for that matter.

Maybe that's why it was at the thrift store.

However, looking beyond the pastel headache of a paint job, I could see it had good bones.

It posesses a pretty hand carved design and it was made out of solid wood.

It was mine for $1.49.

A bit ambitious of a price, but there is no dickering at the Goodwill, so I bought it.

 

 

 

I brought it home, and performed a little back yard surgery.  I  cut off the top blue part that would have held the candle. I used a hand saw that Hunky Hubby had laying around the garage.

Power tools kind of intimidate me, at least the ones that can take off fingers.

After the surgery was complete, I got busy with my palm sander, sanding it down to as smooth of a surface as I could.

When that was done, (sorry I skipped a few pictures) I got busy with my bff - a can of white spray paint. I sprayed a  semi-gloss coat of pristine white paint on that bad boy.

 

Here's what it looked like when I was done:

 

The top was left with this slight indentation. I couldn't sand it down any further and I'm not a huge fan of wood putty.

I put on my thinking cap to come up with a solution, I didn't really want to be able to see this hole when it was done.

 

Turns out, a penny was the perfect fit.

And wouldn't you know it, Ol' Honest Abe was sporting the year I got married?

Neat-o.

I glued that penny right in the hole.



 

I guess you'd like to know what kind of glue I used.

I like E-6000.

It sticks to just about everything and it dries nice and clear.

 

Then I put a thick layer of glue on the entire surface.

I wanted enough to basically cover the whole thing so there wouldn"t be any bubbles under the glass.

 

I should probably tell you that I got the glass globe from the Goodwill too. But I think they are at the dollar store for even cheaper. Our Goodwill seems to think that thrift stores are actually for rich people who just want to slum it.

I pressed the globe down onto the candle stick and made sure to center it. I tried to schmoo it all around so that there would be full coverage.

 

 

Let it dry and ta-da!! You have a beautiful new

candy dish/candle holder.

It's multi-purpose at it's finest.

Pretty and functional.

The perfect marriage.

 



 

Here it is moonlighting as a candy dish.

I used it when I was decorating for a wedding shower.

 

 

Or stick a candle inside the globe and you've got a lovely candle holder.

Updated and incredibly cooler than when it first began.

 

The options are endless.

I just love a good make over, don't you?

I know, I know. Now you want to run out to the nearest thrift store and make one too.

Well go ahead fellow crafter.

Go and be creative!

Send me a picture of your make over.

I'd love to see what you've done.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jana

Boys and Pictures = Comic Adventures

 There are times when I give up the hope that I will ever get these 3 boys of mine to sit still long enough for me to get a good picture of them.

Apparently, they equate sitting for a picture with torture of the cruelest kind.

Which then means it turns into torture for me as well.

I mean really, how hard could it be just to look at the camera and smile, right? 

I guess for boys, it's pretty hard. 

Let's look at some examples of how my boys have changed in their approach, so to speak, of having their pictures taken over the years.

I used to get smiles like this:

Which morphed into smiles like this:

Which have now become faces like this:

What is a picture taking Momma to do?

Taking pictures of my own kids brings out the ugly side to my mothering. I have cajoled, bribed, threatened, manipulated, scolded, yelled, employed the power of the guilt trip, and done just about everything within my mommy powers to get my boys to sit for a nice photograph for me.

I succumb to these tactics after asking nicely fails, of course.

I know this isn't good.

I know these are bad qualities.

I know a good, patient, loving mother wouldn't ever do any of the above listed things.

I am not always a good mother.

At least, I ask for forgiveness later. 

Because I am a loving mother.

So why do you think that sitting for a photo is so hard for my boys? Could it be because they have been staring into the black orb of my lens since the day they popped free of my womb?

Hmmm.

When all is said and done, they finally manage to pull themselves together long enough for me to get a couple of good pictures. (Thanks goodness for fast shutter speeds!)

Then later, when I've calmed down  I have time to download the pictures onto the computer, I have plenty of opportunities for a few laughs.

Oh man, my life is never dull.

Never.

And I guess, in spite of it all, I wouldn't have it any other way.

But if you have any good tips for getting boys to enjoy having their picture taken, shoot 'em my way, will ya?

Thanks,

Jana

School Desk - Done

Looking at what we would need for school this year, I realized that Seth was in need of a new desk for school.

We were fortunate that Grandma and Grandpa Beaber had an extra desk in their basement storage room. They were happy to give it to us and we were happy to take it off their hands.

I decided it could use a makeover.

I, of course, forgot to get a picture of it before I started. But I grabbed a picture as I was sanding it down.

 It's a nice little desk, the perfect size for my student son.  However, even though it wasn't a bad color or anything, I wanted it to match the white desk already in the school room.

I also wanted to change out the dated hardware.

I began the process by dragging the little desk out to the garage and giving it a light sanding.

After the sanding is done, I wipe it down with a rag to get all the dust off.  Then I apply a primer coat.

After the primer coat, I apply the paint.  I painted 2 coats.  I also cheated and used spray paint on the spindles.

 Then I had a brilliant thought.

You see, last year I painted my oldest son's desk white, and the top, after he used it the whole year, is no longer white.

So my brilliant idea, was to paint the tops of the desks with chalk board paint.

GENIUS!

Thank you Sheila for sharing your paint with us!

Two coats of chalkboard paint later, and some nice new handles from Menards (that came with a rebate, no less),  we have a brand new desk.

I love the fresh new look.

Seth loves his new desk and he thinks the chalk board top is pretty cool. I was smart enough to repaint the top of Tate's desk with chalk board paint too. Now they both have fun desk tops and a good work space to do their school work at.

Yippee! We're off to a great start to a brand new year (even if we're a little late)!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out what we're doing.

What have you been up to?

We'd love to hear about it.

-Jana