We love these t-shirts, and they were so much fun to make! I have to say, though, that I’ve not found a way to make Sharpie shirts colorfast when you wash them, despite all the tips I’ve found online. I’ve tossed them in a hot dryer, ironed them, put vinegar in the wash with them…nothing seems to set the color that well. It’s still a great activity for the 4th, though, and since I can get a pack of tees for less than $10 and the hooligans outgrow them every year anyway, we look forward to our new fireworks shirts. Here’s the original post from a couple of years ago…enjoy!
We’re going to be in Oklahoma for the Fourth (without the hubs…apparently the Army thinks patriotic holidays are good recruiting opportunities or something…whatev), so we made these shirts to take with us.
The hooligans each made their own, while I made some for the Okie cousins.
I first made these back in March after seeing them on the Martha show. Then we used green and orange for St. Patrick’s Day (and because Princess Thundercloud needed those colors to match some pants).
To make them, just make dots with a Sharpie on a white t-shirt, then use an eyedropper to drop rubbing alcohol into the center of each cluster. It just takes a few drops and spreads out in a very cool pattern. We put wax paper inside the shirt to keep the marker from bleeding through when we drew on them.
When the fireworks dried, I drew some sketchy lines with a Sharpie, just to suggest the trajectory for the fireworks.
Super cool, we think…and with adult supervision and nerves of steel, totally a kid-friendly, instant gratification craft!
