gandpsmommy Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 It's going to be a slumber party and she wants to have a fashion sort of theme. All of the girls will be 7-9 years old. She wants to decorate t-shirts and canvas drawstring backpacks as an activity and then they would be their goodies to take home. I've thought of fabric paints, iron-on paper and crayons for the kids to design and me to iron on, or patches. Any other ideas? There will probably be about 8 girls with me and a teenage helper supervising. Would tie-dye be too ambitious? I've never done it before, so I don't know how complicated or messy it might be. We could do it outside on our picnic tables, so mess isn't too much of a problem, but it has to be something the girls can do mostly themselves, enjoy and have ready to take home the next morning. Thanks for any ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 We did tie dye at dd's friend's party. Her mom put the coloring solution into bottles like they use for ketchup in restaurants. The girls folded, wadded, rubber banded their shirts and soaked them in a solution for 20 min. Then we wrung out the shirts and the girls came over 2-3 at a time and squirted the colors onto their shirts. They came out nice. Oh, they also had to sit overnight and then my friend washed and dried them so we didn't get them until later, but with a sleepover, you may be able to get them washed before the girls go home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I did fabric paint and visors to decorate at my dd's party a couple years ago - had the kids do the craft first so the paint could at least start to dry. If you use fabric paint, have lots of big t-shirts to cover kid's clothes, and make sure the bottles are the little kind with lids screwed on TIGHT. I had a couple big bottles, and the kids squeezed so hard the entire lid popped off and paint went EVERYWHERE and I was stripping down two little girls to do emergency cleaning of their tops (my dd shared her clothes with the girls for the rest of the party!) Heck just note on the invitations that you will be using fabric paint and ask that the kids wear OLD clothes to the party!!! The kids LOVED decorating their visors! I had glue and sparkly things to glue on the visors, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I order my supplies through Dharma. Their dyes are of the highest quality and DO NOT BLEED after the initial washing--they hold their color too! They have some GREAT KITS with simple directions. We love to tie-dye T-shirts and socks... Last summer we tried Sun Painting-- it was fun and turned out great. I made a cute shirt for my nephew that was green/yellow with the silhouette of a lizard and leaves. DD made one with flowers she cut from paper... this craft is easy to do--you can use it on any white fabric--hats, shirts, bandannas... ----- Back to tie-dye... You can purchase a kit at the store--just DO NOT USE the RIT dyes... these WILL bleed and fade... The common kit I like the best can be found at many craft stores like Micaels, Hobby Lobby and even Wal-Mart. It is by Rainbow. The kit has everything you need except the shirts/socks. Great directions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 You can get fabric paint markers as well. Our library does a project every summer with decorating T-shirts and even the little ones can manage with the fabric paint markers. When they do it, they print printable coloring sheets off the computer to fit their theme. Then, they tape them to cardboard and put them inside a white shirt and trace the outline of the picture with a black sharpie and then the kids color it in. Of course, with the older girls, you could just do a free form thing too and let them draw or color what they want. You can get the markers at Walmart I know but I am sure any craft store would also have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 There are also fabric markers that are used just like regular markers. They come in many colors and can be found in thick or thin. These are not paint markers. They don't need any special drying time but do need to be heat set, usually with an iron or in a hot dryer. (They'll come with instructions) Pillow cases are also fun to decorate with fabric markers. (not with paint though, it's uncomfortable to sleep on even a slightly raised design) HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 We used the fabric markers as well. There are all kinds of colors, and some even have sparkles! Easy to use and no mess. Turns out really pretty. We found a book of iron-on patterns (Daisy Kingdom was what we found) that we let the girls choose from. I ironed on what they chose and they put a cardboard under their shirt and colored! Easy Peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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