Easy Troop T-shirt

With this method, troop T-shirts can be made to look like tie-dye with less mess and less time.

Materials:

Clean white T-shirt
Contact paper
Adhesive vinyl letters
Acrylic craft paints (Apple Barrel - small bottles)
Spray bottles
Water
Paper towels

Prepare your work area:

This can be done indoors, as the craft paints do not emit any fumes. However, an outdoor area with no wind is preffered, in case of over-spray.

Spread a plastic drop cloth on floor. Cover plastic with newspaper. (Plastic protects the work surface. Paper soaks up over-spray, preventing puddles from forming underneath shirt.)

Prepare the shirt:

Cut shapes from contact paper. If you have access to one of those die cut machines (most schools have one) it makes this job a lot easier.

Leaders can apply the Troop # in the desired location using the vinyl letters, then have the girls arrange and stick the contact paper shapes on both sides of their shirts.

Prepare the paint:

Pour the bottle of craft paint into a clean 2-liter soda bottle. Fill the bottle with water up to where it starts getting narrower. Shake vigorously to mix.

Put paint mixture in a good spray bottle that will put out a fine mist.

Paint the shirt:

Lay the shirt on the prepared work surface.

Spray desired areas of one side of shirt. Use a paper towel to dab the paint off the contact paper, so it will not pool off the edge and soak under.

Spray as many colors as you like. We used three, mulberry, turquoise, and spring green.

After spraying the final color and dabbing the paint off the letters and contact paper, hang the shirt up on a hanger while you put down fresh newspaper.

Lay the shirt on the fresh paper with the unpainted side up.

Repeat process as for first side.

Hang on clothsline to dry.

Once paint is completely dry, it will be permanent.

Cleanup:

Surfaces can be cleaned up with soap and water before paint dries.

Tips:

Paint should be sprayed on lightly. If sprayed to thick, it will soak through.

You can put wax paper or a shirt board inside the shirt to prevent bleed through if necessary.