Oh look, another post where Heather paints something random with acrylic paint! What can I say, acrylic paint is one of the cheapest and most versatile art/craft supplies around! This time, we’re painting t-shirts and onesies. You don’t need anything special to paint clothing – don’t bother checking out the fabric paint section at your craft store. You can use that regular old acrylic craft paint, and it will stay permanent and vibrant!
My three year-old son and I had fun decorating t-shirts with this vintage stamp set we have. We even decorated a onesie for his new brother. I like the effect of the imperfect stamping en masse. Pattern is such a great element of design – repetition makes things intentional! This shirt reminds me of some of the surf-inspired t-shirts kids were wearing in the late 80s, early 90s when I was in grade school and junior high.
You can use this technique on new clothes, or use it to spruce up stained clothes (disguise the stains under paint!) — great for kids’ clothes that have seen better days!
Acrylic paint will stay permanent on clothing. Once it dries and is heat set with a dryer or iron, it’s there forever. Make sure you DON’T use washable acrylic paint! It won’t work for this project.
Project Estimate:
- T-shirt, on hand or $1
- Acrylic craft paint, about $.50 per bottle or on hand
- Stamps, on hand
- Iron or clothes dryer, on hand
Total: FREE and up
The Method:
Stamp or otherwise make a print on a t-shirt using acrylic craft paint.
When paint is dry, throw it into the clothes dryer until dry to heat set, or if you prefer to iron, put a thin dishtowel over garment and iron (no steam) until dry.
The paint should be fixed on the garment now!
Heather Mann is a regular contributor at Make and Takes. She’s is the mother of three boys, ages 3, almost 2, and newborn. She publishes Dollar Store Crafts, a daily blog devoted to hip crafting at dollar store prices, CROQ Zine, a print magazine devoted to hip crafting, and also CraftFail, a community blog that encourages crafters to share their not-so-successful craft attempts.
Written by Heather Mann
Heather Mann, a mother of three boys, is a kids crafts contributor at Make and Takes. She publishes Dollar Store Crafts, a daily blog devoted to hip crafting at dollar store prices, CROQ Zine, a print magazine devoted to hip crafting, and also CraftFail, a community blog that encourages crafters to share their not-so-successful craft attempts. Read other posts by Heather
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not sure how I feel about you calling the stamp set vintage. I realized that it was a stamp set that I had growing up and I don’t feel old enough for it to be considered “vintage”. I guess I need to accept the fact that I am thirty and only going to get older! ;) This project is a great idea – thanks for sharing!
LOVE this! I think I’m going to make stamped tshirts as sleep shirts for my 3 teenaged daughters. Thanks!
I love this! We may be making some of these today! Thanks.
I’m going to try this too! Does it matter what heat setting you put the dryer on (low, med, high)?
OMG…. SERIOUSLY cheap ole acrylic paint!! Awesome…. thanx for the heads up!! You rock!
@Susan, I got the stamps at the thrift store, so I’m not sure how old they are! :) I’m older than you, so we can be vintage together! :)
@Shana, I just used the regular high heat setting on my dryer.
I love your posts when you paint something random with acrylic paint! More!!
What a fun idea. And it will be a perfect indoor activity for the snow that is supposed to descend upon us this weekend. Thanks for the creative fun and simply practical craft. :)
I just felt like I had to say how much I appreciate this site. thank you.
Is the acrylic paint safe for the onesies? Because I’m planning a shower and decided to make that the activity.
Love! This is awesome!