fathers day 2012 magazine: Freezer Paper Shirt Stencils

Happy Father's Day!

Each year it has been a tradition for us to make dad a special t-shirt for Father's Day.

See what we've done over the past years HERE.

This year, I thought it would be fun to do something different.

We made shirts for dad AND the kids using freezer paper stenciling (my first time).

Let me just say... How COOLl!!

I found an amazing freezer paper stencil tutorial at MADE.

Find it HERE.

Please refer to the tutorial above.... but I'll give you a quick run-through. It really is simple to do!

Freezer Paper Stenciling

1) I typed the words in a font and sizing we liked in a Word document. Printed them out... and laid a piece of freezer paper over top (shiny side down).

2) I then used an exacto knife to cut out the letters to create my freezer paper stencil.

3) Iron the freezer paper stencil onto your shirt using a dry heat setting. It doesn't take long for it to adhere.

4) Add some acrylic paint! Not too much. Set it aside to let it dry.

5) For the girls' shirts, we brushed a thin layer of washable fabric glue, then sprinkled some fine glitter over top. I lightly pressed it down with my fingers to make sure it stuck well. Again, set it aside to dry.

6) When completely dry, peel off your freezer paper.. and Viola!

7) MAKE SURE TO HEAT SET YOUR PRINTS! You do this using the iron. This is very important if you want your prints to look their best!

On Tatum's and Wesley's shirts, I blended blue and green paint which I think gave it a really nice look. Very subtle, but some added visual appeal. Tate's shirt has green glitter over top of the paint.

Charlotte's shirt has purple paint with orange glitter over top. It left a really neat effect, I think. More of the purple shows through around the edges of the lettering, which looks really cool.

Now.. we're just waiting for daddy to return from a business trip so he can wear his too!