DIY Mod Podge arrow glitter tee stencil tutorial

DIY Mod Podge arrow glitter tee stencil tutorial

• 12.02.2013

This one came out of nowhere. Over the long and glorious weekend, I had a crafty and cooking day with Leah of The Content Owl (we hashtagged #craftingncooking! I highly recommend it!). One project we did was this glitter tee stenciling project! I did a search for glitter tee tutorials and found a bunch involving paint, glue, silk screening, and lettering (including my lettered canvas!), but no Mod Podge like I was hoping for. (My Mod Podge glitter heels popped up as well, though!) So I took things into my own hands and tried this method myself.

You don't have to buy glitter paint or anything fancy for this tutorial; you can use a combination of the Mod Podge and glitter you've had since 2009 when you started blogging (or is that just me?). Point being, you may already have Mod Podge (I don't recommend making your own with Elmer's glue and water because it won't be water-resistant like Mod Podge, and ideally you'd use Fabric Mod Podge for this project), and any ol' glitter will work for this, like from kids' art supplies or scrapbooking. (Sometimes when a project involves something special like glitter paint I add it to my to-do list but may not get to it too soon. No so with this one!) Freezer paper is also like... $2? $3? for a roll that will last you many many years of occasional crafting.

Glitter Tee Tutorial - with Mod Podge!

You will need:

• Tee, sweatshirt, sweater, or other garment
• Freezer paper
• Glitter
• Sponge (the smaller the better; the blue one above was too big)
• ModPodge (highly recommended but not shown--use Fabric Mod Podge for a more durable tee!)
• Clear sealer (not pictured)

My arrow design was I guess loosely inspired by this Old Navy tee, and the crossed arrows motif, although you can do this with any design you can draw and cut out of the freezer paper! You get to make your own custom (one-time use) stencil.

Instructions:

1. Using a paper printed pattern or drawn guidelines on the freezer paper, cut out the design you want to use, remembering that the negative space is what you need and you're really creating a frame for the openings where you'll put the color.

For arrows, use a ruler to draw two criscrossing lines of the same length, and add points and tails/fletchings  (*OMG I just now realized, while writing this, that my tails are upside down. OOPS. Yikes!!*) You could use a template or printable art like from these to trace if you like.

Cut out the drawing, preserving the outline more than the inside part.

(OMG, that's really bugging me now--they look like paddles with arrow points on one side rather than arrows. Well, that's what I get for deciding to do a project and tutorial at the last minute!! Learn from my mistakes!)

2. Iron the freezer paper (shiny side down!) to the shirt in the position you want. Put an old grocery bag and/or catalog or thick paper under the design in between the layers of the tee so the ModPodge doesn't soak through.

3. Mix the ModPodge (again, ideally Fabric Mod Podge, not what I used) and glitter. Wish I had an exact ratio for this but I don't! Sorry!

4. Using the foam dauber (ideally about the size of the openings in your shirt, or smaller, so you don't waste glitter and 'Podge on the paper rather than the tee), apply the mixture through the stencil.

5. Let dry. It dries pretty fast, moveable in less than an hour, but it's not fully dry for about 24 hours.

After an hour you can peel the freezer paper off and admire!

Leah and I made these, my arrows (negative space) and her snowflake which she gave a border to with glitter around the edges--rather than cut out the frame of freezer paper, place the inside diamonds and triangles perfectly, and apply glitter in the shape of the snowflake itself.

6. Now, the next step if you used standard Mod Podge like I did is to waterproof the design with a clear acrylic sealer. Great tips from Amy at Mod Podge Rocks about the washablility of the stuff. Fabric Mod Podge is washable, so when you do this at home, please use it. As for me, I'll let you know how it goes once I wash this tee; I may lose some of my design even with a sealer!

Pretty cool, right? And so easy!

Crafting with friends is always more fun! Although, I did end up with a couple mistakes on this tee! I'll let you know how well it survives, and I may get another chance to put accurate arrow fletchings on!