Teeny Tutorial: Foam Core Stamped Tee DIY

So about a month ago I was trying to think up something to make for little Judah's first birthday present.  And then it hit me, a mustache shirt!  Duh!  But I didn't want to go through the hassle of making a screen and printing it so I decided to make a stamp.  Easy peasy!  I didn't think a potato stamp would be that easy plus I didn't have any potatoes but I did have some foam core lying around.  Perfect.

All you'll need for this is some foam core (or cardboard in a pinch) a tee shirt (or tea towel if you prefer) and some acrylic paint.  Oh and an exacto knife. And a brush.  But that's it.  Oh and a piece of cardboard to put in your teeshirt so the paint doesn't bleed through.  BUT THAT'S IT!

Ok, so the first thing to do is draw your design out on the foam core.  It doesn't have to be pretty and as you can see I drew my designs out a couple times before I was happy with it.  Then, using your exacto, carefully cut out your shape.  Try to keep your design fairly simple since it's difficult to do anything too intricate.

Now, get your tee shirt ready by placing a piece of cardboard or a magazine or something in between the two panels so the paint doesn't bleed through to the back.

Pour a little paint out onto a plate or palette or piece of cardboard and load up your brush.

Paint your paint onto the stamp.  Don't put too thin a coat or it might dry out before you have a chance to get to stamping.

Then start stamping!  As you can see, I used a fairly thin coat on my first stamp and you can see the brush strokes which is really neat and something I wasn't expecting.  You can also see where it was too thin and dried out in the middle there.  I used this knowledge to my advantage and started painting the paint on in the direction that I thought hair would grow and I was pretty pleased with the result.

I really really loved the way this turned out!  I really can't wait to think up some more stamp designs and stamp some shirts for Margaux and maybe some tea towels for the kitchen.

Acrylic paint is permanent so be careful that you don't get it on your clothes or furniture and allow it to dry before washing the shirt.  You can wash the shirt as you normally would after it's dry and it will lose the initial stiffness of the paint.