Freezer Stencil T-shirt. With a Hunger Games theme!

Today was what they call a "Spirit Day" at my daughter's school.  The students were encouraged to wear t-shirts, jerseys or caps (a treat since hats are not normally allowed to be worn in school) with their favourite team on them.  My daughter has absolutely no interest in sports, so naturally, she has nothing to fit the theme for this Spirit Day.  However, she has a ton  of school spirit. 

So we stretched the theme.  A little.

She just loves the Hunger Games Trilogy.    So that is the idea that we stretched.  I have not read these books, so I am just trusting her on this.  Apparently one of the main male characters is a boy named Peeta.  And apparently, the reader is either rooting for him or another boy (who's name I don't know).  As you may have guessed, my kiddo likes Peeta.  So the "Team Peeta" shirt was born!

Freezer paper is really neat stuff.  You can cut a stencil out of it, iron it to your T-Shirt, paint your shirt and peel the paper off.  And it doesn't leave any residue!  Nothing!  At all!  I think this is the seventh shirt I have made with freezer paper.

You can buy the paper at the grocery store.  I did have to look around a bit before I found some.  The discount stores don't seem to carry it.  I found it with the tinfoil, plastic wrap and wax paper.

Here is all you do:
Draw your design directly on the paper.  On the non-shiny side.  Or, you can do what I did with this one, which is design your stencil on the computer and print it on regular paper.  I taped my printout to the freezer paper, taped that  to an old piece of cardboard, then cut through both layers of paper with a craft knife.  If your design has 'holes' in it (like the P) be sure to cut very carefully and save the middle piece to iron onto your shirt.  They are not in this photo, but I'm sure you can tell where they go.

Don't cut too enthusiastically or you will break your awesome little paper slicer and have to use a utility knife.

Then place your stencil, shiny side down, in the desired position on your shirt and iron it down.  Use the hottest setting you can safely use on your shirt with no steam.  Once you are satisfied that it is ironed down well, you can get ready to paint!  Be sure to slip a piece of wax-paper-covered cardboard inside your shirt in case paint seeps through.  You don't want to paint the back too.  After I'm done painting, I take the shirt off the cardboard and hang it on a hanger and let it sit overnight.

It looks horrible at this stage.  You just can't tell if the paint bled under the paper until you peel it off.  This is the worst part for me.

Our design is more yellow at the top and blends to a dark orange at the bottom.  We were going for a flame-like appearance.

Now you get to peel the stencil off!
Here is where you follow the manufacturers directions for the paint you used.  The stuff I use requires heat setting, so in the morning, after removing all the pieces of my stencil, I put a cloth over my design and iron it as per the directions on the bottle.  Then I let it sit for the rest of the day.  It feels stiff at this point.

Here is what I use.  Ordinary acrylic paint and Textile Medium.  Awesome stuff!  You mix the meduim with any acrylic paint.  This is really inexpensive paint and it works great with the textile medium.  So many more colour choices than buying a bunch of different (and expensive) fabric paints.

After all that sitting and drying, I turn it inside out and wash it like any other shirt. It always comes out nice and soft.

My daughter wore her shirt to school today with pride. Pin It

Instant Oatmeal you make yourself

This isn't exactly a craft, but it is something that we have a lot here.  I thought that you might like oatmeal too so I decided to share our method.

Oatmeal is a favourite with my youngest daughter and me.  Those little packets that you can buy are expensive, tiny and quite honestly, not worth it, in my opinion.  For years I have been making my own instant oatmeal.

All you need is
Oats - quick oats and minute oats both work well.  Regular and steelcut oats don't work well.
Salt
Sugar - I suppose you could leave this out, but why would you want to!
Dried fruit.

First you need to grind up some oats.  I have a container that I keep in my freezer of 'powdered' oats.  I grind up a lot at once.  They are in the green container in my photo..

Here is the base, plain oatmeal.

 Now flavoured up with craisins and apple.

All you need to do to get your base (like the plain oatmeal packet) is place 2 tablespoons of ground up oats, a quarter cup of un-ground oats, a sprinkle of salt, and sugar to taste (I like a tablespoon of brown sugar plus a packet of sweetener.  My daughter likes a tablespoon of brown sugar.)
That's it!
Then you add fruit of your choice.  I like dried cranberries (about 2 tablespoons) and a slice of dried apple, cut really small, the best. 
Other fruits that we think are good include dried apple and cinnamon or raisins with a little cinnamon and nutmeg or dried peaches (again cut really small) or apricots, cut small.  My kids also liked candy sprinkles in it too.  The possibilities are pretty much endless.
You can make this as you need it or you can make several in advance and save them in small containers or zip top bags. That is what I do.

When you are ready to eat your delicious, nutritious breakfast, it is just like the name-brand packets.  Pour it into a bowl, then add boiling water.

Give it a little stir, then let it sit for a few minutes too cook and thicken up.

After a few minutes and another stir, it is ready to eat!

Enjoy your breakfast!

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This is thriller...... Thriller night!!!!!!

I got my hands on a copy of Zombie Felties a while ago.  I can't remember how I discovered this existed in the first place.  But am I ever glad I did!!!!!

I have decided that (for now, anyway) I am only going to work on projects that I have either already started and abandoned, or projects that I bought the 'ingredients' for but never did anything with.

Well, this totally  fits the bill because I cut the pieces for this back in November.
Why, oh why did it take me this long??????

How awesome is he????

I believe that The Zombie Survival Guide should be required reading.  :) Pin It