Slice of Heaven

Homemade Birthday Gifts

Bay's birthday is approaching (turning 7) and since he is not a regular reader of this blog, I think I am safe to give you a sneak preview of what Eric and Leah have created for his gifts from them. I have wanted to do freezer paper stencils with the kids for a long time, but just didn't have the occasion, or maybe it was the time, or was it the organization and pre-thought? Anyways, I buckled down and got all of the materials ahead of time and we did it! They were sooo much fun and I think are a wonderful way for the kids to showcase their artwork. It required a bit of help from me with the exacto knife and ironing, but other than that, it is their work.

If you would like more detailed instructions, there is a great photo tutorial here.

It started out with a drawing. This is Leah's sketch in her journal. I then traced the presents onto freezer paper and spaced them out just a little to fill up the front of the shirt. Then I marked the parts that would be painted and cut them out with an exacto knife.

Next step was to iron the freezer paper on the shirt and then get to painting. Once the painting was done, we let it dry. Then I used silver fabric paint to fill in the ribbon. I did this part because it was a little too detailed for Leah's hands.

Here is Leah's, all done! I think it is adorable.

Eric's went much the same way, except he just had to be so much more complicated. I had all kinds of teeny tiny pieces to cut out of the space ship and the lettering. But I exacto knifed it, ironed it on, and he painted. Then we peeled off the paper and here it is. Front side is the green alien.

Back side is the alien's space ship heading off to his planet!

I think Bay will love his shirts and will appreciate being able to wear the artwork of his brother and sister!