DIY Thanksgiving Shirts for the Family

Last year I was in desperate search to come up with some cute outfits for Thanksgiving since we would all be together.  It's hard to find something that appeals to all 4 kids including a teenage girl, tween age boy, and a 6 year old!

Oh ... and it had to cost next to nothing ;-)

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!

On the front of dollar store shirts, I freezer paper stenciled the fronts of the shirts with all different ways of saying we're thankful ... 

and on the back we each took sharpies and decorated them with all the many things we were thankful for!

Supplies I used:
6 white t-shirts (already had, found at the dollar store) - $6
6 colors of fabric paint (already had these, but they run about $1.25 ea at craft stores) - $7.50
Multi pack of sharpies (found on sale at Kmart) $3.50
sponge brushes (already had, dollar store)  $1
freezer paper (already had, found at Walmart) $3
cricut
Project Total for 6 Thanksgiving Shirts for the Family =  $21
Memories of making your shirts as a family = PRICELESS :)

1. Have everyone decide what color they want on their shirts and what you want them to say.  Using your cricut, cut the phrases out on your freezer paper (shiny side down).

2. Iron down the freezer paper onto your shirt, shiny side down.  Put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt so the paint doesn't seep though and paint over the stencilled letters using FABRIC paint.  Allow for the shirts to dry overnight.  We used this as a fun family Thanksgiving morning activity, so I made the shirts the day before.

 3.  On a piece of scratch paper, have the kids write down or sketch out what they are planning to do on their shirts.  If you're anything like me, you'll want to know what they're going to write ahead of time ;-)

4. Using the multi color pack of sharpies, let every one draw or write everything they are thankful for on their shirts!  We had so much fun with this!  It was also a great way to keep the kids busy on Thanksgiving morning and really get into the spirit of the day :)

 

 My sweet babies

 

And their awesome shirts!

 My oldest (14) is in French at school so she chose "I'm Thankful For" in French ;-)

I love how she set up her shirt :) and that she is not only thankful for butter, but also for bacon ;-) A girl after her mama's heart!

 My 12 year old stepson :)

 I thought it was cute how he used the letters in FAMILY and FRIENDS for other words and he used pictures too. And also that he is thankful for "Nerds" LOL

 My 9 year old baby girl :) 

 So cool how she set hers up like a crossword puzzle! And that she is thankful for herself LOL! Oh and also bacon ;-)

 And my youngest (6) :)

 I thought it was so sweet how she was thankful for her teacher first and foremost! And her house and room and hearts ;-)

 And then there's me :)

I tried to do mine in a Subway Art Style.  Mixing different colors, fonts and directions.  I really love how it came out :)

And my amazing husband who is a VERY good sport and totally got into the spirit of things!

He's such a sweetheart :) He had fun making up his shirt!  

My favorite part of the whole thing was how much fun we all had designing them :) I adore my big old crazy family!

MONDAYS ~
 

 

SUYL - Halloween Costumes!

 This week Kelly's Korner is talking about Halloween Costumes!  I must admit I LOVE making my girls' costumes! This will be the 3rd year in a row that I've made them tutu costumes and they are already deciding what they want to be next year, even my 15 year old!

Halloween 2010

 

From the first tutu I made I knew I was hooked :)  My oldest daughter wanted to be a zebra so I made her a black and white striped tutu and added some hot pink for a little flair ;)

  

Right down to her toes! I LOVE how puffy the tutus came out!  I decided to freezer paper stencil some dollar store t-shirts to go with their costumes. Then added in little touches like striped tights!  I wrote a quick post about it HERE.

 

My 8 year old daughter wanted to be a devil, "but not a SCARY devil, a cute one!" HA!

  

I think we achieved that! She was my "Darling Devil" and OH MY WORD AT THE CUTENESS! I posted a FULL TUTU TUTORIAL HERE.

 My 5 year old just wanted to wear the witches hat ;-) So I fashioned her outfit after the colors in the hat.

 For her shirt, I decided she should be a "Witchy Woman" HA! I added bows instead of straight ribbon threads so that her tutu would be just a little bit different ;)  I posted about it HERE.

I was SO SO excited when they wanted me to make their costumes again in 2011!  We sat down and came up with all sorts of ideas ... I think I have enough ideas to keep them in tutu costumes until I start making some for my grandbabies! ... hmmm I don't know if I like the sound of that!

Halloween 2011

My oldest, 14 at the time, decided to throw me a tutu curve ball and be a peacock!  I had to really think about how to make the back look like a tail!  You can see the post about that HERE.

That tutu was a little different but it came out BEAUTIFUL!  We freezer paper stenciled her shirt to say "Pretty as a Peacock" and boy does she pull it off!!

 My precocious 9 year old wanted to be an angel since she had been a devil the year before.  I think she was trying to showcase her duel personalities ;) 

She and I collaborated on the outfit and I just adore how it came together :) We freezer paper stenciled her shirt to say "Angel with Attitude" and WOW does that fit her to a T!  I wrote about her costume HERE.

 My youngest, 6 years old, wanted to be a lady bug.  I didn't know how much work I was getting myself into with this one!

I had to hand cut and sew each of the little polka dots on the skirt!  But WOW was it cute!  Her shirt said "Love Bug" and I think that fit her pretty well :)  I wrote a post about the whole thing HERE.

The year I will be trying out the TUTU DRESSES ... I'm a little nervous lol.  My oldest wants to be a mummy, my 10 year old a Deatheater {Harry Potter reference ;-)}, and my 7 year old is Cinderella.  I can't wait to see them on Halloween, guess I should get started on their costumes!!!

"Pretty As A Peacock" Tutu Costume

 

Last year, my oldest wanted to be a peacock :)  My girls have a good time coming up with interesting ideas for their costumes!  I had to think about how to make the tutu LOOK like a peacocks tail, something new and different that I hadn't seen before! 

  

So following my tutu tutorial HERE, I did the same basic form but something a little different for the tail.  I used slightly longer pieces of tulle and instead of folding them in half, I folded them with one long end and one short. I did a few different long/short length variations so it would look poofy but tapper down in the middle.  Then I added to the middle of the bow a cute peacock feather accent I found at Hobby Lobby :)

  

Her complete costume :)  I found the shirt at Dollar Tree and freezer paper stencilled it with the cute phrase cut out on my cricut.  I ended up taking the feather accent off the back of the tutu and putting it on a dollar store headband, which was super easy because it was once piece!

 

She really liked the idea of a mask so I found one for her at Rite Aid on clearance!  I found some single feathers at Hobby Lobby and hot glued them to the side.  Then, I wrapped a pencil in some ribbon and hot glued that to the back.  Add a few more coordinating ribbons to the bottom and there you go!

 

Add some black leggings and ballet flats and the look is complete :)

A better view of the back.  I think the "tail feathers" really came out cute!! I worried that they wouldn't fluff out right or look like I envisioned, but I was VERY happy with how it looks, and so was she :)

My pretty little peacock :)

I love that even at 14 she still wants to dress up and go with her sisters out Trick or Treating :)  It can be difficult these days for girls her age to find costumes that are appropriate and modest, so I LOVE that she'll let me make one for her!

This year she wants to be a mummy ... with a tutu of course! Can't wait to see how it comes out ;-)

"Angel with Attitude!" Tutu Costume

For Halloween 2011, my 9 year old wanted to be an angel since she had been a darling devil the year before.  I knew I could come up with a way to work a tutu into the costume so we set to work!

At first I was thinking a white tutu but she had the idea of going with gold to sort of be different, I LOVE how it turned out!  I found some shimmery gold tulle rolls at JoAnns and whipped it up in an afternoon!  You can see how I do it HERE.

 I found a white shirt at the dollar store, used my cricut to cut out the words and freezer paper stencilled with to say "Angel with Attitude"! I found the wings and halo on sale at JoAnns while I was there to pick up the tulle :)

 To complete the costume she just needed a long sleeve white shirt and leggings (it was chilly!) and a pair of white ballet flats, all of which she already had.

I am ALL ABOUT making super sweet but super SIMPLE costumes and using things you already have!  I think I probably spent a total of $15 on her costume!

I think she pulls off the "Angel with Attitude" ... don't you? ;)

Linking up to the parties on my side bar, check em out!