Kid's Party Craft: Sharpie T-Shirt

I have a 4th of July baby, so naturally I'm overly excited about the red, white, and blue! Already in love with Americana it wasn't a big leap for my patriotic heart. Last summer I tried out an easy Kid's party craft that I'd seen over and over on Pinterest: the firework sharpie t-shirt. I've learned a few things over the last few years on how to be more successful with your activity so even a 3 year old can be proud of his efforts.

Affiliate links are provided for your shopping convenience. By clicking and purchasing, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. Please see my disclosure page for any questions. Thanks for supporting Halfpint Design so we can continue providing awesome party ideas!

Sharpie T-shirt Supplies

This is such an easy craft to make with kids. A great summer party activity or gift idea for Mother's and Father's Day. You will probably have everything you need at home already except for a plain white t-shirt.

• Plain White t-shirt: Walmart or Target: You can pick up shirts for under $4 or a package of undershirts like this one {above} for less than $2
• Colored Sharpies: Amazon: We stuck with red and 2 different blues {CAUTION – METALLICS DO NOT BLEED}
• Isopropyl Alcohol: Walmart, Target, or Dollar Store
• Kids medicine dropper: They'll give them to you for free at the Target pharmacy {just ask nicely} if you don't already have drawers full! ?
• Small bowl or cup: To make dispensing the rubbing alcohol easier
• Paper or plastic cup
• Rubber band

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 1: Wrap

Start by wrapping a portion of the shirt around the top of the cup and affixing with a band. I like to start at the top and work my way down.

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 2: Draw

I'll admit that I did all of the “fireworks” on the first shirt but let my little man make his very own as we waited for mine to dry. I let him do the pattern, helping only to make sure there was enough ink in the circle. For a few of them I held the pen and he guided my hand. That was a great compromise for the birthday boy to feel like he'd done it all by himself!

Pro Tip: Have little kids use one color for each circle for a nicer finished product! 

This is an example of a simple firework. I like adding the dots and making sure there's enough ink. These work best with TWO colors but you need to stay away from complimentary color combinations:

• Red/green
• Orange/blue
• Yellow/purple

Or your circle will turn into a mess.

You can see my daughter's shirt from two years ago that she did all by herself. This year I only set out a limited number of colors and noticed that the DARK BLUE bled the very best.

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 3: Bleed

Now for the fun part! Fill up your medicine dropper with rubbing alcohol and drip it all around the design until it is saturated. BUT be careful not to use TOO much or the excess will drip into the cup, taking with it some of your vibrant color. You can see how quickly it spreads as I add the alcohol in the video below.

The more rubbing alcohol you use, the more it will spread. If you don't mind that then let the kids go crazy. I try to keep mine from spreading too much further than the rubber band or it can interrupt a neighboring design.

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 4: Let Dry

Let your shirts dry between circles to keep them from running together. In your downtime, work on another shirt and alternate back and forth between the two. My little man was thrilled to have his own shirt to do. We did our project outside and set each cup in the sun to dry. Just remember to remove the rubber band as it dries if you don't want a white circle. But if you forget, it isn't the end of the world. Also, if you don't have sun, a hair dryer works great.

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 5: REPEAT 

Continue drawing and bleeding your designs until the t-shirt is as full as you desire. I did 6 circles on this 3T undershirt. As the t-shirts go up in size you may need to add a few more circles. Continue drying between the circles until you're complete. Then….

Sharpie T-Shirt Step 6: Set and Enjoy

Throw them in the dryer on HIGH HEAT for a full drying cycle {approx 45 minutes}. This will help set the color a little better. NOTE: the color WILL fade as you wash these shirts. To keep them looking as vibrant as possible I hand wash mine in cold water. But they are so easy to do that you could touch them up periodically through the year to keep them looking bright. I don't want to worry about my kiddos getting their sharpie t-shirts dirty, it's inevitable, they're kids. But I love seeing how much they've grown each year when we compare our shirts from last year. Especially this little guy who is also pretty excited about his new big boy bike! What a great 3rd birthday!!

If you try this out with your family, let me know how it goes in the comment below. I LOVE doing these. They are so simple. You don't have to be a great artist and while you don't exactly want a free for all, {they ARE using Sharpies} only minimal adult supervision is required. This is a great 4th of July activity but you can do it anytime you're looking for a summer boredom buster, or the perfect kid's party craft idea. A party favor they make themselves is worth waaay more than candy!

Additional Reading

• Patriotic Mantel Decor Ideas
• Red White and BBQ Party

Until next time my friend,