Holiday Gift making: Dad edition

 It's that time of year again!
Time for Christmas magic and cheer and joy and...
and time to find a gift for those people who are impossible to buy for!
When someone is impossible to buy maybe they aren't impossible to MAKE for?
Maybe...

This is one of those projects for people who love your family and will want something from them that has a bit of that handmade quality! (Even if they don't want child typography on a shirt to wear out of the house the sentiment is there and most people love a good t-shirt to bum around in!)

I did this project with my 4 year old and my almost 2 year old and did it really differently for each of them!

Project T-shirt ONE year old style:

Key: Giving them a controlled space to do whatever they want in.

Tools: 

Fabric markers: with little kids I like to use these
A blank T-shirt
Soft Fabric Paint in whatever color you want(I used this even though it's  not specifically for kids I find that as long as you are closely monitoring during use (aka. don't let them eat it) it's safe.
A paintbrush or I used a clothespin clipped on a cotton ball... easy clean up/disposable!! :)
A piece of paper large enough to cover the shirt
Scissors
Tape (I used packing tape because it was all I could find)

1. Check marker/paint instructions on whether you should wash shirt first... if need be, prewash, it will help the image last longer. 
2. Cut a hole in the middle of the paper approximately the size/shape you want. You are basically making a simple stencil. (you will tape around the inside edge and that will subtract approximately 1/4 inch on each side)
3. Line up the hole in the paper to the place where you want the image to be on the shirt, then tape around the inside edge of the stencil aprox 1/4 inch over the edge of the stencil on the shirt - enough to hold it securely but not make your hole too much smaller.
4. Set up all your supplies before you introduce the project to your toddler. (I learned this when I got out the paint and my toddler immediately reached out her hand and grabbed an handful = not ideal)
5. Start with fabric markers and then add paint after. **A good way to make sure your shirt design doesn't look like a pile of rainbow vom is to only give your toddler a selected set of colors. I chose Red Yellow and Orange because of the quote my husband loves that I wanted to write on the bottom. Any 3 Tertiary colors is a good bet! TERTIARY colors are 3 colors that are next to each other on the color wheel!!!
6. Sit with them and join in the fun!

 Encourage them to draw on the shirt as well as the paper around it! Ha ha!

 As you can see this paper seriously did it's job!

**NOTE** I made a point to go around the edges to frame the space that my daughter drew on. This is not necessary but nice if you want the shape to be easily discernable.

Project T-shirt Early Elementary style:

Key: Giving a keepsake of their writing at the stage they're in. Since this gift is for my husband I chose to give my daughter one of his favorite quotes to write. Another adorable option would be #1 Dad or Grammy or a drawing of the person's favorite animal.

Tools:

Fabric markers (same as above)

T-shirt... prewashed if required by markers

washable fabric pens (optional)

Ruler (optional)

Easily readable/copiable copy of the quote, text or even a photo of an animal to serve as inspiration.

1. First my daughter picked the quote we wanted to use. I gave her a couple options and she picked which one she liked... I'm not saying she understood it... just that she had a little ownership in what we put on the shirt
2. Then we looked at the shirt and the text and decided how we wanted to put it on the shirt. I described the options, putting it in the middle in a square. putting it up and down, across the chest, across the bottom or diagonal. She picked diagonally and the I used my washable fabric pen to draw on guidelines for her to aim for.
3. Help your child as they write the words on the lines. T-shirts are not easy to write on so holding it flat is helpful! The writing will most likely not follow the lines exactly but it will be their writing which makes it so special
4. (optional) Give your child a space on the shirt to design however they want with no restrictions. I chose a bottom corner and I told her to draw whatever she thought Daddy would like...