Trendy TreeHouse: Father's Day

Showing posts with label Father's Day. Show all posts

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Father's Day shirt ideas

5 years ago when Micah was merely 3 months old I started a tradition that at the time I didn't know was a tradition. But the tradition continues...and it's something I love to do. I have been creating shirts for the kids to wear on Father's Day, for 5 years! First let's take a trip down memory lane (maybe giving you some ideas) and then I'll show you what I've made for THIS Father's Day! Each shirt is linked to my original blog post so you can see additional photos!

2008 Following in Daddy's footsteps

2008 - My dad is a perfect 10

2009 - My dad rocks

2010 - My dad is the bomb

2011 - My dad is my hero

2012 - I've got an AWesome dad

This years Father's Day is all about beer...seems kinda strange since the kids are the ones "giving" the gifts right? Well, I needed a good excuse to get Greg some of the gifts he's getting and didn't want to wait till Christmas! Since I didn't want the kids wearing some sort of "beer" logoed shirt, I decided to go with root beer, and what better root beer than Greg's favorite A&W. I first saw this A&W idea on Nothing But Country's blog and downloaded the printables last year knowing I'd use them at some point.

Here's a tutorial on how I made the shirts!!!

Step 1: I went to the A&W website and downloaded their logo desktop photo to my computer and then got to work personalizing it. I changed the "since" date, added "dad" to the bottom, used the "esome" from the free printables on the original logo and then added "I've got an". I printed out my new logo and got to work.

Step 2: First I taped the logo to my window and then taped my prewashed fabric right over the logo. I traced the logo with my pencil three times (one for each kid)!

Step 3: I ironed some freezer paper onto the back of the fabric so that the fabric would be more stable while I painted and also so that the paint wouldn't bleed through onto other surfaces.

I used paint that was made for fabric. Yes, you can use acrylic paint (and I have in the past) but it cracks much more easily and it becomes pretty hard on the fabric...but in a pinch it will do. These bottles of paint cost $1.50 each at JoAnn's...

BUT, this four pack of fabric paint cost me 97cents! I could hardly believe it when I saw it and bought two different packs! So I ended up buying 8 colors for less than the price of the two colors I really needed! but don't worry, they will get used!

Step 4: I started painting the fabric pieces and painted the color with the least amount of coverage first. I painted the same color on all three shirts at a time.

Step 5: Paint the gold part of the logo. There was no "gold" so I had to mix colors and come up with one. It's not perfect but it'll do. That's the charm of a homemade gift right?

sorry about the lighting here and color distortion!

Step 6: paint the brown. I didn't do two coats on the brown but probably should have. I did do two coats of paint on the other colors. I just made sure to get really good coverage with the brown the first time!

I'm going to try and go back and erase my pencil lines (I hope it works).

Step 7: I carefully cut out the logo right on the outside dark brown area and then removed the freezer paper.

Step 8: Iron on double sided fusible web

I found that if you put the top piece of paper back over what you are ironing you won't have anything stick to your iron and you won't have to cut anything out...the iron will melt the areas you don't need.

Step 9: Iron the logo onto my brown t-shirts for the kids. If there are little pieces of the fusible web your iron will just melt them away! You may have to clean your iron when you're done but not a big deal!

Step 10: Sew around the edges of the logo to prevent it from falling off! (I still need to do this step!)
Step 11: Put the shirts on the kids and take cute pictures and surprise daddy at church!

The littlest one wanted to put it on right away...so I obliged and took a few photos...but then she didn't want to take it off!

I can't wait for Greg to see the shirts! I think he's gonna love them. And you better believe I'll have photos to share! I would tell you everything that I've got up my sleeve for Greg but on the off chance that he stops by here before Father's Day I better not...just in case!

I will be having the kids fill out one of these questionnaires about dad! And if you need some more ideas, head over to my pinterest Mother's Day and Father's Day board to see what I've pinned. I'll be sure to share photos of what we ended up doing for Greg's gifts in a week or so. I just wanted to get these shirt photos up in case you're still looking for ideas! Have a great weekend and we'll see ya next week!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

My dad is my hero

Hey friends, hope you're doing great. I'm sorry that I've been absent for the last two weekends. Last weekend took us to St. Louis to celebrate the 90th birthday of my husbands grandmother. We had a GREAT time and enjoyed the free zoo and of course Ted Drewe's!!! We also had an incredible time catching up with all the family and we're excited that we now only live 4 hours from family rather than 12!

This week my niece has been here with us and helping me tremendously with the kids. She's been great and played countless games, colored TONS of pictures, read lots of books and beat me at Monopoly Deal more times than I can count. She's been getting me in the crafty mode too, since she loves to craft and it helps to have someone to bounce ideas off of (my husband always says "don't ask me, you're the creative one").

I got the shirts done for the kids to wear tomorrow for Father's Day. I'm so happy with how they turned out and can't wait for him to see them at church in the morning! I also have printed out this Super Dad banner and plan on hanging it up for him to see after church. I'll share photos of the kids in their shirts next week. But there they are!! What do you think?

Friday, June 17, 2011

Memory Tree

We made another gift for DADDY today! Although this can be made anytime of year. I will proudly display this in our home for many years after Daddy opens it! ;-)

This is a quick project that you can do in minimal time. So perfect for last minute gifts. And you will most likely have the supplies if you are a crafty person like myself. LOL

Here is what you will need...

Hard Board (size of your choice, ours is 16x20)

Newspaper (torn in small to medium pieces)

Matte Medium

Gesso

Paints (different greens for each child's hand and grass, blue for the sky and brown for the trunk)

Sponges and paintbrushes

Paper Plate for paints

Spray craft varnish

First start with your Matte Medium and Newspaper pieces. Paint a little Matte medium on the hardboard. add the newspaper and paint more matte medium on top. Do this on the whole board. This gives your board some texture and dimension. Set aside to dry.

Once everything is dry, grab the gesso and paint over the paper. You will have to do a minimum of two coats to cover the paper. If you are wanting to leave it a white background, you will need more white coats. We wanted to paint ours different colors, so we didn't worry about covering everything. Again, set aside to dry.

TIP...in between coats, wrap your paintbrush in foil and stick in the fridge. This will keep is moist between coats. You won't have to worry about constantly rinsing out your brushes.

Now that you have your textured board ready to go, you can now sponge on your sky blue and grass green. I just used a kitchen sponge and cut it up into squares. It covers fast and gives it a nice effect. Make sure you paint your green down low. You want a nice tall tree to put those hands on.

Here comes the fun parts. It's beginning to look like something fun! Get out your brown paint. Use a brush to outline your tree. Give it some branches, then fill in the trunk with a sponge.

The really, really fun part is adding the kids hands. Each of my kids had their own color for their handprint, giving the tree cool look. I like it too because it makes each of their handprints stand out. We also filled in areas with finger prints of each color. It made it look like little leaves.

And you're done! A perfect gift for any occasion. And with Father's day this weekend, it's perfect! ;-)

Another look at our tree!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Father's Day Freezer Paper Shirts

Today we are working on Father's Day shirts! A little behind, I know! Eeeek! I just designed these this morning. Daddy is working out in the shop on some customer cabinets, so he has been home a lot. I keep telling him, warn us when your coming in so we can hide your presents. LOL This is why we are a little behind on gifts this year. And I can't have the kids make their Papa's gifts in front on him either, because they are similar.

Here is what we are making.... SHIRTS!

Below are the images I made for the shirts. Please use them if you like!! And if you do, I'd love to see the happy Daddy and kiddos wearing them.

For Daddy (and/or mommy too)

For the Kiddos

Just use the FREEZER PAPER method to make your shirts.

I bought a shirt for daddy and shirts for all the kids. Our plan is to have daddy open up all the shirts as one gift. Then when we take daddy to lunch, they will all wear them. I can't wait to take pics of them all wearing them.
We are finished! Here are our shirts! What do you think? We love them!
We had a little bleeding of paint. One, we used a little too much paint. (kids were generous, lol) and the girls shirts were ribbed, so that was a little tricky. But you can read them, and the kids made them for daddy, so I'd say they are perfect! ;-)

Monday, June 13, 2011

Father's Day Puzzles

I was browsing around at some of my favorite blogs when I came across a great Father's Day Gift idea. It was a tutorial by Lil Blue Boo. If you haven't been to her site, you need to. I love everything she shares. So go by and let her know I sent you.

Here is my take on this Father's Day Gift....the kids loved helping make these.

What you will need...

Golden's Soft Gel Medium

Jumbo Popsicle Sticks

Paint Brushes (fingers)

Fine Sand Paper

Brayer

Double Sided Tape

Plain Piece of Paper

Photo printed with laser printer

(not pictured)

Wax Paper

Spray Varnish

Start by placing double stick tape on a plain piece of paper. Add the popsicle sticks. The tape will hold the sticks in place while you work.

Have your image cut to size and set aside ready to lay on the sticks. But first take your Gel Medium and add them to the top of the popsicle sticks. You want to add enough (not too much, not to little) to the sticks. Apply with a brush or your fingers. I gave each of my kids a brush and they all helped.

Once you have generously covered the popsicle sticks, place your photo face down on top of the gel and sticks. Cover with wax paper. Grab your brayer tool and smooth out the paper completely. I used the wax paper so I wouldn't get the gel on it while smoothing it out.

Set aside and let the gel dry completely. It takes up to 20-30 minutes for the whole thing to completely dry. Your paper will curl up, that's normal. Don't worry.

After completely dry, add water and gently remove the paper. To make things easier, I ended up using a razor blade to cut each stick apart, then submersed each stick under water to peel off the paper. This helped keep the ink on the stick, rather than scratching off the image. This will make the sticks warp (curl) a bit, but as they dry they straightened out. You can also place something heavy on top to keep it from curling if you are worried about that. By doing it this way, I was able to save the whole image with very minimal scratches.

Once all the sticks are cleaned and completely dry, you will see a little dry looking residue. Take the Spray Varnish and spray (outside, it's bad stinky) both the front and back of the popsicle sticks. You now have a nice finish and protection for your photo. Get some twine and make a tag. Finish by tying around your puzzle. You're ready to give it to the daddy, papa, uncle in your life.

You can also drill holes in one of the ends, like Lil Blue Boo did. But I didn't have access to the drill at the time, so I improvised. ;-)

Here's a pic of the kids while they worked on these. We ended up making 9 puzzles. Some for daddy (I made him one too), some for Papa and some for their uncle.

Here is another finished look at one of the puzzles we made. I have always loved this photo of my kids. It was taken a while back, but I just love it and wanted to use it for the puzzles gifts.