How to use a Freezer Paper Stencil

If you haven’t heard my exciting (and super anxiety-causing) news yet, I just had my 4th baby. Yes, that is FOUR!!! Things are getting a little crazy around here! With every baby I’ve had, I have bought big brother and sister shirts, which are super cute, and get worn exactly ONE time. So instead of spending a small fortune bying shirts, I decided to whip up a few of these SUPER easy shirts. I used my Freezer Paper Stencil technique, which I showed you a while ago {here}.

 This Freezer Paper Stencil technique can be use for anything! You don’t have to do brother and sister shirts, you can do any shape or word your little heart desires. How cute would it be to do a shamrock for St. Patty’s day, or a heart for Valentine’s? And you really don’t even have to do t-shirts. Think of how cute this technique would be on a quilt, a pillowcase, or a sports jersey. You can use the Freezer Paper Stencil technique on any fabric.

You’ll need:

Freezer Paper
Fabric Paint
T-shirts
Iron and Ironing Board
Electronic Craft Cutter (optional) 

Instructions:

Start by cutting your words or shapes out of freezer paper. You don’t need to have an electronic craft cutter, just trace what you want to cut on the non-shiny side of the paper and use scissors or an exacto-knife. If you do have a craft cutter, make sure to stick the shiny side to your mat, and cut slowly. You’ll want to leave a little space around your shape or words, since you’re using this like a stencil.

Once you’ve got your words or shape cut out, iron your freezer paper stencil on your shirt, shiny side down. Make sure you get it ironed on there good.

 Then go ahead and start painting on your shirt. Make sure you follow the directions for your paint. I used DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paint, so all I had to do was paint it on and let it dry really good- no heat setting, and it will dry soft, with no cracking or bleeding.

The paint will seep through the shirt on to the other side, so put something in the middle of the shirt. I just used a piece of cardboard.

Once your paint has dried, peel off the freezer paper. Don’t worry, it doesn’t leave any residue.

 And voila!!! You did your own DIY screen printing!!!!

I loved seeing my kids (especially that chunky little baby) wearing their new big brother and sister shirts (and a little brother shirt too).

Don’t you love the way they turned out? They were super inexpensive to make, especially since we had the t-shirts already. And they really only took about half an hour to whip up! You guys can totally do this yourself… I’m telling you, it’s easy.