How-to: Bleached t-shirts

So for a fun back-to-school craft we made bleached t-shirts.  I shared them in my last post, so I am posting how we did them today.  Super easy, and way fun!  My daughter and her friends made them at a back-to-school party at our house.

Supplies needed:

*t-shirt:  100% cotton, cheap ones work great, and darker colors work best (don't need to prewash them, and no problem if they are already washed)

*clear contact paper

*spray bottle filled with regular bleach (no water added)

*big bottle of regular vinegar

*big bucket to fill with vinegar

*design you want to put on your shirt

*piece of cardboard to insert into flat shirt to separate front and back

So the first thing you do is figure out what design you want on your shirt.  I have a cricut, and my kids chose designs from my cricut, and we just put the contact paper in the cricut and cut out their designs.  If you don't have a cutting machine, simply trace your design onto the contact paper and cut it out.  Make sure if you do letters that you get them the right way.

Peel the paper off the contact paper and stick your design on your shirt.

Place the cardboard in between the front and back of your shirt so the bleach won't bleed through to the back, and take the shirts outside.

**remember you will be spraying bleach, so wear appropriate clothing when you do this--i.e. clothing you don't mind getting a little bleach on.  And do it in an area you don't mind bleach getting on.

Have your bucket full of vinegar near to where you are spraying your shirts.

Place your shirt on the ground/table or whatever in the sunlight.  Hold your spray bottle with bleach over your shirt and lightly spray your shirt.  You can move around the shirt and spray or just spray in one spot.  Doing it different ways makes different results.  Let it dry in the sun for a few minutes--it is cool to see the shirt change.  The change happens faster in direct sunlight.

As soon as it has bleached as much as you want it to (several seconds to a few minutes), quickly slide out the cardboard and dunk the whole shirt (with the contact paper still on) in the bucket of vinegar.  This stops the bleaching process.  You may want rubber gloves when you do this.

Rinse the shirt in the vinegar, and take off the contact paper.  Ring out the shirt over the bucket and let dry outside.  Stick the shirt in the wash and wash it to get out the lovely vinegar smell :)

Ta-da!  Cool new shirts!

You get different looks depending upon how you spray your shirt.  This one was sprayed really close and with lots of bleach.  The other discoloring happened because??? we had bleach on our hands?  Not quite sure, but it is the same on the back, so it looks like we meant to do that :)

This was was sprayed a little farther away and not so much.

This one was sprayed closer and more concentrated.

This one was lightly sprayed.

This one was lightly sprayed all over the front.  (This is Miss O at her back to school night showing off her locker)

Hope those directions are clear enough.  If you have questions, just post them in the comments, and I will answer as best I can.  

Thanks for visiting and happy t-shirt bleaching!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 33--Back to school

Let it begin. . .so school started this week.  Miss O just had one day and the other three kids had 2 days of school.  It went pretty well.  Miss A seemed a little overwhelmed by high school, but I think she will get used to it.  Anything new is always a little overwhelming at first, I think.  Miss O was a pro with her second year in the middle school, and Mr J and Miss E are very at home in their elementary school.  These are some pictures from our back-to-school week. . .

New lunchboxes!  Everyone's backpacks were in good shape, but everyone needed new lunchboxes.  I found these are Costco, and they are a big hit with the kids.

Our back-to-school craft--'bleached' t-shirts.  I will post how we made them later this week.  Super easy and fun!

First day for these 3.  They sported their new shirts they each made.

Mr J and his 2nd grade teacher.  He came home from school the first day and said she was "awesome!!"  Good way to start the year.

Miss E and her 5th grade teacher who is also awesome!

My beautiful and very cool 7th grader on her first day!

My beautiful freshman!  Ugh, that is still hard for me to say-- I have a freshman in high school--high school!   When did that happen?  Because I am so not old enough to have a child that old :)

Hope your back-to-school weeks go well!  Thanks for visiting!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 32

School officially starts this week.  Summer is over.  It has been a hard summer with it being so hot and dry.  It seemed similar to a long, hard winter where you were home bound and had cabin fever, because when it is triple digit temperatures the last thing you want to do it go outside and play, so I think we had some cabin fever going on here this summer.  I think everyone is happy to be starting back to school.  I will have a high schooler!  Ugh!  When did that happen?  I have kids in 3 different schools this year--elementary, middle school, and high school.  That should be fun :)  Sunday night I was looking at the week's schedule, and I told Ben, "Crazy officially starts tomorrow."  Here we go. . .

Sunday:  I have no picture, but I cut out the symbol for the London Olympics and asked everyone what their favorite sport/event from the games were.  So in my scrapbook I will have the Olympics symbol and these responses. . .

Ben:  Men's 10 M platform diving and David Bouda getting the gold, volleyball, swimming, and the awesome finish in the men's 5000 M when British Mo Farah won.

Jen:  the 15 year old American swimmer Katie Ledecky that won so easily the 800 M, she was amazing!  Watching Michael Phelps win more metals, he is just awesome, and I always love gymnastics!

A:  volleyball and swimming

O:  When 15 year old Katie Ledecky won the 800 M swim

E:  Swimming, diving, and track and field

J:  The trampoline!!

What was your favorite thing of the Olympics?

Monday:  My mom is a librarian at my kids' elementary school, and today we went and helped her get the library read for school to start.  Mr J is on the ladder to hang leaves and apples in the 'tree.'

Tuesday:  I am proud to be an American and to be able to vote today!  I take that responsibility very seriously and haven't missed an election since I turned 18.  

Wednesday:  Miss O went over to my mom's today, and she got a lesson in roll making.  She did a great job, and these were delicious!!

Thursday:  Miss E got her glasses in today!  They look really cute on her!

Friday:  Mr J has been begging all summer to have a picnic at the park, but it has just been too hot.  Thankfully the weather cooled today--the high was only 90--so we were able to have a picnic before the end of summer.

Saturday:  We really have not been outside much at all this summer.   It is sad, and we haven't been able to do many house/yard projects because who seriously wants to be outside working when it is 103?  Not me.  So today it was actually not too bad outside, and Ben and Mr J got on the roof to check out some things--getting on the roof and strutting around is such a guy thing :)  Miss E watches from the window.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope the end of summer and beginning of school goes well for all of you!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 31

We took one last summer trip last week before school starts next week!  We went to Nauvoo, Illinois which is a significant place in the history of our church--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It has a restored town from the 1830's and 1840's with people in costume and showing you how they lived then and what they did--blacksmith, bakery, brick making, candle making, etc.  In the summer they have an outside pageant in the evening, and they had a fun county fair before, and the great thing about it all--it is all free!  The kids had a blast, and it was a great time!

The kids sack racing at the fair.

Ben and Miss O going at it with the stick pull.

The kids getting ready to race with a handcart.

A scene from the end of the pageant--awesome!

Sis. Elaine Dalton who is the leader of the Young Women's organization for our church world wide was there, and the girls got to meet her.  She gave them a hug, and we got a picture.  She is awesome!

Getting a brick at the brickyard in Nauvoo

Nauvoo is located at a bend in the great Mississippi River, and the lily pad flowers were in bloom and amazing while we were there.  This is looking across the river.  

On our way back home we stopped in the big city overnight and spent a day shopping for school stuff--i.e. lots and lots of shoes :)  

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you all have a great week!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 30

And the countdown begins--2 weeks and 2 days until school starts, but who's counting? (um, me!)  We still have had unbelievable heat here.  It doesn't look like it is letting up anytime soon, and I so wish it would.  Miss A has started practice for high school cross country.  Miss O is busy working on smoothie recipes for her cookbook.  Miss E has a school music drumming circle camp this week, and Mr J is having fun commentating on the Olympics, "oh, that dive was just horrendous!" (exact quote from my 7 year old)  Too much fun!  Here are some shots from our week. . .

Sunday:  The past few weeks on Sunday evening we have enjoyed watching an episode of Anne of Green Gables.  What a classic, and having them in VHS is very classic (i.e. old).  I was worried our VCR wouldn't work to show them, but thankfully it did.  I may have to put these my Christmas list this year to get in DVD.  Good stuff.

Monday:  We got a fun care package from Ben's parents today.  Getting packages in the mail is always way fun!  Thank you Grandpa and Grandma!

Tuesday:  Miss E is getting glasses!  I suspected as much when she came home from school the last day and said, "Mom, I had a hard time seeing the board today."  The eye Dr confirmed my suspicions, and today she picked out these cute frames.  They will be ready to go by school time, and the good thing is she is excited about her glasses--yeah!  She looks cute in them.

Wednesday:  Hit Wal-mart today.  The school lists were out, and Mr J was very meticulously checking his list as we got all his school supplies. 

Thursday:  Today was my mom's 60th birthday.  All the family got together and compiled a list of "60 reasons why we love Nana!"  It wasn't hard to come up with that many, she is awesome!  Love you Mom!  Happy Birthday!

Friday:  My kids go through craft stages.  This summer they have been the friendship bracelets and then colored duck tape projects.  Miss O can make anything out of duck tape, and they have the coolest colors to make things in now.  Duck tape wallets have been her projects lately.  These are just a few she has made.

Saturday:  Every 3 months our family is in charge of cleaning our church building.  Today was our day.  Miss O and Mr J work hard on making the doors and windows nice and clean.  They are good workers.

Thanks for visiting and hope you all have a great week!!

2012 Blue Jeans Week 29

We are still trying to survive the heat.  ugh.  I am so ready for fall.  School starts in less than 4 weeks here.  Summer is winding down.  The last few weeks of summer seem to be less busy which is nice.  Here is what we have been up to here. . .

Sunday:  I had to laugh when Mr J was helping me make dinner.  It was sweet and sour chicken and the sauce that he was stirring had vinegar in it, and he did not like the smell :)

Monday:  It was 105 today, and the kids have lots of fun keeping cool this way.  The grass under our trampoline is the only grass on our acre not dead :)

Tuesday:  Super Hero J to the rescue.  They did super heroes and made these cute masks and capes at the library today.  We love the library!

 

Wednesday:  I am a list person--with 4 kids and their different activities, I have to be.  I write all the activities/where I need to be with whom and when for each day on a post-it note.  I am a huge post-it notes fan, but today my list was too big for my regular post-it note.  I wrote it all down and just laughed.  What a crazy, crazy run around day today was!

Thursday:  This week was Mr J's swimming lessons.  He went off the driving board for the first time, and then he was hooked!  His swimming has really improved this year.  He got the breast stoke down and was diving off the board by the end of the week!  Yeah Mr J!

Friday:  Miss A and Miss O were doing a play this week, so I took Mr J and Miss E to lunch.  Mexican is their favorite --chips and salsa are a necessary food group to them.

Saturday:  Miss A and Miss O were in the children's theater production of The Tortoise and the Hare this week.  Their performance was today.  Miss A was the tortoise and Miss O was a weasel.  It was a cute musical and the girls did great!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!