Simply Made: Everything Is Awesome Lego Movie T-Shirt
Welcome to Emily’s Simply Made Series! Each post features a craft that looks cute or is practical but is easy enough for even the uncraftiest of people. Cute DIY things are NOT just for the pros! You can do it too!
We’ve shared some really fun shirts we’ve made for our Simply Real Kids over the past few years and I always refer to THIS tutorial on how to Faux Screen Print using freezer paper and fabric paint. Well, I’m here to update that tutorial and give you a more t-shirt specific how-to (along with a free printable pattern you can use too!).
I made one of these Lego Movie themed t-shirts for a gift for Jasmine’s son’s birthday this year and my son begged me to make one for him after he saw it. If you’ve got a child in the 4-10 age range, then you understand the obsession with the song “Everything is Awesome” that is such a big part of the movie. The boys are singing it non stop around here, and there are lots of shirts we’ve seen that say “Everything is Awesome” but they’re so overly crazy looking and not something I necessarily wanted for my son, so I decided to make one of our own. To keep it basic but something the kids would still love, I used a lego man silhouette and added the letters to give a little nod to the kids’ favorite song.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this sweet shirt:
- T-Shirt (my favorite blank t-shirts are at H&M and Target)
- Template (find below)
- Scissors & pen/pencil
- Freezer Paper (found in the wax paper/saran wrap aisle)
- Iron
- Fabric Paint (found in the puffy paint aisle…but DON’T buy puffy paint)
- Paintbrush
To make one of your own, start by printing out the template we provide at the bottom of this post. Trace the entire image onto some freezer paper about the size of the t-shirt onto the matte side of it (There’s a shiny side and a matte side).
Cut everything out. For this specific template, make sure you keep the letters intact but don’t worry as much about the lego man…The lego man will be empty space on the shirt, and the letters will be applied inside.
Place the Lego man template onto the shirt and iron over it using a med/high heat with no steam. Then place the letters onto the shirt in the correct order and iron over them as well. You see, freezer paper is magical and will stick to the shirt when ironed, but will peel off after with no damage to the shirt! Pretty sweet. ALSO. If you mess up on placement, you can peel it off and re-iron it on the right spot!
Now, place something inside the t-shirt to prevent leakage of paint onto the back of the shirt. I usually just use more freezer paper (shiny side towards the top).
Now start painting! Cover the entire image in paint.
When the paint is almost dry (fully dry is ok, but it works best when it’s almost dry) peel off the template and letters.
And you are left with this awesomeness! This shirt turns my son into a different person…he just loves it so much!
Here’s one of Jasmine’s son rockin’ the design in a black/white combo!
So click below to download or print the template and get to making some AWESOME t-shirts for your kiddos!
THIS TEMPLATE IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY AND MAY NOT BE USED FOR PROFIT. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO SIMPLYREALMOMS.COM
We think imitation is the BEST form of flattery! If you make this or any of my Simply Made projects, come by and post a picture of it on our Facebook page! We want to see!