Project Materials:
- T-shirt, on hand or $1 and up
- Piece of recycled cardboard, on hand
- White, Black, and Green Acrylic or Fabric paint, on hand or $1 each
- (Optional) Fabric Medium for acrylic paint, about $3
- Shower pouf, $1
- Thin-tipped paint brush, on hand
- Paper plate for a paint palette, on hand
Total: $1 and up
About the supplies:
T-shirt: any color but white is fine, so choose what
you like (reclaimed from your closet, purchased on clearance or even
Goodwill like mine was).
Cardboard: Flat piece of cardboard large enough to fill the inside of your shirt (cereal boxes work perfectly)
Paint: White, black and green paint (fabric paint is
great, but you can add Martha Stewart’s Fabric Medium to any acrylic
paint to keep it from being stiff and un-wearable)*
Shower pouf: You can get these at the dollar store, or pretty much any other store for $1 or less. I got 2 for $1 at Wal-Mart.
Paint Pallet: I used a left over paper plate or two,
but if you don't have one, you can use a piece of recycled cardboard
(the rest of your cereal box?).
*Note: Be sure you are using paints with the same curing process.
How to Make a Dandelion Shirt:
1. The first step is to put the cardboard inside the shirt, to keep
paint from seeping through to the back, which is not attractive.
2. Next, you want to squirt a generous amount of the white paint on
to the plate. If you are using regular acrylic paint and fabric medium,
follow the directions for mixing on the bottle. As you can see, I added
some glitter paint, but it didn’t give it noticeable sparkle, so I don’t
recommend the extra step.
3. Then comes the fun part – pounce the shower poof up and down in
the paint and then gently pat it on the shirt where you want the head of
the flower to go. I recommend starting with as little paint as
possible, gently tapping most of it off on a scrap paper towel before
you touch it to your shirt. You can always add more.
4. Next, squirt a bit of the green paint on your plate and using the
thin brush, paint your stem. Perhaps you want to give it a slight curve
so it looks like it is bending in the direction of the wind.
5. Next, we added some seeds to look like they were being scattered
by the wind. We used two methods with the same white paint mixture:
- Ever so lightly sweep the poof out and up from the head of the flower, or
- Paint each individual seed with the thin paint brush, making little
crosses. Then rinse the brush and dip it in the black paint to put a
tiny stem on each seed.
Either method seems produces pleasing results, it is just a matter of
whether you want fast and abstract or painstakingly real. After much
deliberation, we decided that the seed band started at the same width as
the head of the flower and then scattered and broadened as it moved
upward. I think a few blowing over your shoulder and onto your back
would be fun, too.
Now you just have to be patient while your creation dries (generally
for 24 hours), heat set with an iron as directed (mine was 3 minutes on
as hot a setting as the shirt fabric allows), wash and wear!
