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Monday, June 18, 2012

Matching Freezer-Paper Stenciled Bike T-Shirts

embellished t-shirt for boys with bike
I love to make things for my boys. Both of them have summer birthdays and I had plans to make them special birthday shirts that matched.

Well, that didn’t happen.
Eventually, I decided to just buy matching shirts and embellish them. I got started with the little guy’s shirt and just didn’t like what I did to it. So it sat. And sat. And I was too busy to fix it.
Masculine Embellished T Shirts

Finally, I decided to make the older one’s shirt. (The week after his birthday.) So much for matching birthday shirts.
Matching Bike T-Shirts with Freezer Paper Stencil

And I ended up loving the bike. And the gray paint color. So much that I wanted to cover up my original work on the little guy’s shirt. 
matching bike t-shirts with freezer paper stenciling for kids
So I did. Is it obvious?
1showing my mistake and how I covered it up
The method I used to do the bikes is freezer paper stenciling. I have a tutorial for freezer paper stenciling here. And no, I do not have a vinyl cutter or stencil cutter. I cut these from the freezer paper with my own hands and a sharp craft knife.


The moral of this story is that I should not try to be a ‘perfect’ mommy and throw a ‘perfect’ birthday party.  I had great ideas…like I would make a beautiful cake.

And this is what I ended up with:
IMG_6019[1]

This is the cake's good side:
IMG_6018[1]

But you know what?
It was a great birthday anyway.

Even though the boys didn’t have handmade matching shirts and my oldest didn’t have a perfectly decorated birthday cake, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have handmade printable garlands and coordinating napkins and straws with some cute theme. (Though I do love those who go to extremes for birthday parties.)

My husband made ribs (it was his birthday, too!) which were spectacular. The rib-making took practically the entire weekend and splattered our deck with grease, but they sure tasted great.
So. I’ve already tried scrubbing my deck with dish soap. That didn’t get the grease marks off. Any other ideas for removing grease from an unstained wood deck?

13 comments:

  1. I love how the t-shirts turned out. I have been wanting to try something similar with a bleach stick. I just found you and I'm your newest follower.

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    1. Great idea with the bleach pen!
      Thanks for following!

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  2. I think I need to make these! I have a biking a husband and a son who worships him. Also, I pretty much love everything you do!

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  3. The shirts ended up super cute; thanks for linking them up at The Fun In Functional! And I totally cut everything out by hand too, I don't have a fun cutting machine or anything. It works fine, but it's lame to have to do tons of intricate stuff that way... :-)

    Maybe try some baking soda on the deck? Just sprinkle some out there and let it sit for a while and soak up the grease. Then try cleaning with dish soap, or some vinegar and water maybe. Good luck!

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    1. Hmm...good idea on the baking soda. I'll do that tomorrow. Glad to know I'm not the ONLY blogger out here in blog land without a vinyl cutter! Sometimes it seems like everyone has them.

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  4. Love the shirts! I have boys too and I am always looking for things to make for them (seems like there are more girl things to make than boy things!).
    Katherine @ http://simplysweetsunday.blogspot.com

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  5. Great shirt! I love the direction the bike is facing!

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    1. Thanks! Glad you like it. It's one of my favorite parts, too.

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  6. I like those shirts and that birthday cake.

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    1. Thank you! Especially for the encouragement on the birthday cake...

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  7. I like these t-shirts. last week i also bought some motorcycle t shirts for personal use.

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  8. These are some nice one. i like to wear these t-shirts. consider a visit

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