It's Making a Comeback...

Puff Paint!!!

If you are a child of the 80's (and for that matter probably any mom of the 80's) you just got a smile on your face.  To say my mom got carried away with puff paint when I was a child might be an overstatement (but not by much, sorry mom).  I think I probably had a shirt embellished with puff paint for every day of the week.  I remember I even had several pairs of tennis shoes decorated with puff paint.  I will say though, she is not the one to blame, I loved every t-shirt, sweatshirt, dress... she made me!

So, when I saw this post on Ruffles and Stuff for a Faux Sequin t-shirt, I knew I had to try it!  This is really in honor of my mom; all those puff paint shirts you made me, I am now making them for my daughters.  Hopefully they will love them as much as I did.

What initially got me excited about this t-shirt (besides how cute it is and all the possibilities) was how easy it would be to make with Ella (and Miller).  Ella had two birthday parties coming up and I thought these would be perfect gifts.

All you need is:

t-shirt of your choice (I got mine from Old Navy)

freezer paper

puff paint

sequins (optional)

a pencil eraser

So you don't make the same mistake I did, make sure you get the Metalics puff paint.  I accidentally did not get the Metallic in the aqua paint.  It still looked really cute, but would be even cuter with metallic paint.  I ended up adding a lot more sequins to it to help give the effect.

Here is what you do...

1. Draw your design (honestly for me this is the hardest part!  I am NO artist.  It probably took me at least 30 minutes to get a dolphin that I was somewhat happy with.  You could always use a picture from a coloring book if you really feel like you cannot draw the picture you have in your mind).  

2.  Then trace your design on freezer paper.

And cut out the dolphin.

Freezer paper is the best!  If you do not have it in your sewing room, you need to go to the store today and get it.  It irons on fabric (perfect for tracing patterns and cutting out fabric, appliqués, stencils...) and then easily pulls off.

3.  Iron the template onto the t-shirt.  I wrapped the dolphin around the t-shirt.  In hindsight, I wish I would have wrapped it around a little bit more.  Make sure the template is ironed on really well around the edges so that no paint seeps under.

4.  Dot the paint on the t-shirt.

5.  With the eraser, press down the dots.

Miller loved doing this just as much as Ella.  

I will admit, it is instant gratification!

Here is a closer look of what it looks like with metallic paint (don't know why the color is so funny).

6.  For an added touch, you can sew sequins throughout the design.

Miller was so proud of what they had created.  He knew how much their friend would love it.

What little girl would not be thrilled to wear this???

And I really promise you this, if you do not take forever to draw like me, you could pop one of these t-shirts out in 30 minutes.  If you decided to add sequins (it is very cute without, but what little girls doesn't love sequins?  And this way you can control how many sequins are on that new favorite t-shirt), add on another 30 minutes (after the paint has dried).

*With every project, I always have at least one thing I would do differently.  The only thing I would do different, besides getting metallic puff paint, if getting bigger sequins.  I did not even think about it when I picked them up, but bigger would definitely be better!

All right, go get some Puff Paint and make your own Faux Sequin t-shirts!  Your girls will love them!  And you for making it!