The Cool2Craft Creative Play theme for December is “Give Yourself a Gift.” You give to everyone else during the holidays and all year long. Time to give yourself a treat! Make something, go somewhere, do something that’s just for you and photograph it! Then share it with us – post it on the Cool2Craft Creative Play blog on the Hive. Anything goes! I’m going to run with this theme and craft every day in December. I’ll be posting tutorials and videos as well as making some kits available at the Marketplace. Join me on Cool2Craft for 31 days of blissful, healing, creative play and give yourself the gift of play, too! [Candace J.]
My little guys love to make art, especially if you can wear it! Me too! Here’s an easy one. I started with a cotton t-shirt and some spray fabric dye and then did the stamping. The pure joy of creating is a gift I give myself as often as possible. Carving is one of my favorite things to do!
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1. I made three loosely gathered spots on the shirt that I wrapped with rubber bands. |
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2. I sprayed the gathers with the fabric dye, saturating the best I could. |
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Then turned it over and saturated the back. I heat set the colors. Be sure to follow the directions on your fabric dye to set the colors. |
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When the shirt was dry, I removed the rubber bands. |
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3. This is where the fun starts! You’ll need:
1 potato A craft knife A tool to dig with (I used a sculpture tool) Cookie cutters Fabric paint Paper towels A paper plate |
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4. Cut the potato in half and set one half on the sharp side of the cookie cutter and push down. |
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5. Carefully cut away some of the potato around the cookie cutter with the craft knife. |
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6. If you want to carve detail into the shape you can do it with the cookie cutter still in place, or remove it, like I’ve done here. Remove the excess potato bits carefully. |
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That’s right, the peace sign is back, Baby! |
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7. I free handed this one with the sculpture tool. It’s a looser, more primitive look. That’s what I like! |
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8. Put a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt. Pour a small amount of paint (do the lighter paint first) on the paper plate. I spread it around with my finger, because you don’t want the paint to fill up the negative spaces in the design. Always test the stamp on a paper towel first. |
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9. Stamp away! |
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If you have paint left, stamp some paper! |
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10. Let the paint dry and follow the fabric paint directions to set it. And you have got yourself one dandy little t-shirt, my friend! |
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