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Rainy days arts and crafts times kids.

I've decided we need a diy thread to answer any questions people have on making things. Post tips for making anything.

How to make patches:

Ingredients:
An old t-shirt
Scissors
paper
pencil
sharpie
tape
wax paper
spray paint
a razor blade
thread and needle

Instructions:
Start by cutting out square patch sizes out of your t-shirt. Cut out the desired number of square cloth equal to the desired number of patches.

Draw out the design you want to paint on your patch on a sheet of paper with pencil or pen. Be sure to not leave any circles as they wont make working stencils later in the project. If you're not a good artist or don't feel like drawing your design out, I suggest you visit this site:

http://stencilpunks.mattrunningnaked.com/
Just pick out a design, use paint to shrink it to patch size and print.

Next you'll need to cover your paper with the design with wax paper. Trace over it in sharpie. Cut along the lines with your razor blade. You now have your stencil to guide you in painting your patch.

Take the patches of cloth you cut out of your shirt. Tape the stencil you just cut out on to it to hold it in place while spray painting.

Get ready to spray paint. I do my spray painting out on the front lawn. I put a garbage bag under the item I am spray painting as to not mess up the lawn. It's best to wear a bandanna or some other sort of mouth protection to prevent you from inhaling the spray paint ( I might have to change the name of the guild to stupid punks if you inhale too much spray paint)

Use the spray paint to paint your image on to your patch. Let dry for a few hours.

After your patch is done being painted you'll need to sew it on. If you're trying to sew it on to heavy fabric such as denim I recommend using a sewing machine. If not feel free to use thread and needle. Just tie a knot at the end of the thread and put the needle in and out. It's really as simple as that. It doesn't have to be fancy but it should be strong enough to hold the patch in place.

Viola you have your patch! AMAZING!

Next time: How to resize a t-shirt

cul- turns out i already have everything i need cramned under me bed!

what the hell is a pro tagger?

I went to that site today and printed out some stencils (one vegetarian one, one anti-McDonalds one, and three band ones) to put on some blank T-shirts. I'm making in my academic lab (a sort of study hall- mine happens to be in an art room), and a certain (*coughhugecrushcough*) guy is helping me make them.

i wanna make a bondage shirt, should i just buy a regular long-sleeved t-shirt and add zippers?

and if thread ist strong enough dental flos works plus it tastes good......

Ok, this is very childish on a good day, but those of us who babysit for spare cash it's a winner for child entertainment...

bracelets

What you need:

styrofoam cups (the smallest you can find, though me I just take them from work...)
markers (Perm. works best)
razor blade/ exacto knife
clear packing tape

First off, you (asuming you wont hurt yourself in this process) cut off the top of the cup as cleanly as you can. This is the annoying part...

Next let the kids (or youself) use the markers on the top part of the cup.

After that use the tape and wrap it all the way around the now decorated bracelet. This will help keep the foam from breaking apart and gives the bracelet a shiney plastic look.

As for the rest of the cup...let the kids decorate it and use it a vase for fake flowers made out of tissue...

Yeah I spend a lot of time around kids and when I'm at my actual job I come up with all sorts of ideas to keep them away from the stupid T.V.