Give Someone You Love a Portable Hug!
Nov 16 '00
My husband is a long distance truck driver, and because of this fact he misses out on a lot of the daily family rituals. Story reading, tucking in, goodnight kisses, these are all parts of the day he really misses when he’s out on the road. But he never misses his “hugs”. The reason for this is the Christmas gift he received several years ago, a personalized sweatshirt, complete with hugs! My children, in the age range of teen to toddler, helped in this creation, and it has been a smashing success.
What you will need for this project
One pre-washed sweatshirt (light colors work best, but ours was done on a black shirt)
Fabric paint – any colors you choose (My preferred brand is Tulip)
Fabric paint extender (if desired)
Paint brushes
Shirt board (a piece of cardboard cut to size works well, you’ll need this to stabilize the shirt when painting on it, and to keep the paint from going through to the other side)
Tacks (to pin the shirt to the shirt board)
Stencils if you are not comfortable with your free-hand lettering skills
Paper plates
Please Note: Do not use fabric softener or dryer sheets when pre-washing and drying the sweatshirt! These products put a “coating” on the sweatshirt that will prevent the paint from adhering properly.
Let’s Get Started!
First off, you’ll have to decide what you want the shirt to say. We chose the phrase “Safe in the Arms of Love”. To us it symbolized the “hugs” he was wearing, and the fact that we were keeping him “safe” when he was out on the highway.
Insert the shirt board into the sweatshirt. Tack the shirt onto the board to stabilize it. Either stencil or free-hand your phrase onto the front of the sweatshirt. Just squeeze some of the fabric paint of your choice onto a paper plate and start painting. Depending on the type of paint you’re using you might want to use the paint extender I listed above. This thins the paint a little if you find that the paint you’re using is a little too thick for you to use comfortably. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect! It’s a gift from the heart, and more often than not the imperfections are what make it more endearing!
There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Now for the fun stuff!
Determine where you want your children’s hand prints to be on the shirt. My teen had his prints on either shoulder, the toddler’s hands were up by the neck of the shirt, my 6 year old’s hands were on the shirt waist, and I placed mine on the back….as if I were actually giving him a hug. (This part was a little tricky. I had my teen son put the shirt on so I could get my hands placed just right on the back.)
Squeeze more paint onto another paper plate and have your children smoosh paint onto their hands and then place them on the shirt in the desired areas. I found this worked best doing one child at a time and letting the paint dry in between.
Once all the hand prints were on the shirt I added each child’s name and nickname with more fabric paint. Once this has all been done, follow the paint manufacturer’s instructions for setting the paint and that’s it! You’re done! Now you have created a one of a kind masterpiece that is sure to bring a tear to the eye of any proud parent. (It definitely brought a tear to the eye of a “hardened old truck driver”! LOL!)
I’d recommend this as a gift for a parent that travels a lot (as my husband does), grandparents, even aunts, uncles or close family friends who live a great distance away.
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Member: Beverley
Location: Canada
Reviews written: 290
Trusted by: 419 members
About Me:
So good to be home, but so very tired!
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