A few years ago we made gifts for the kids’ grandparents with Hanes T-ShirtMaker. Creating your own shirt design is really fun and the possibilities are endless. You can make your own design on the computer, using the software provided. The design is printed on special transfer paper using an ink jet printer. You heat set the design on the shirt by using an iron. What’s really fun is that you can incorporate your own photos into the design – you can frame a photo or crop it into different shapes. The t-shirt transfers work on more than t-shirts too. They will work on just about anything you can iron. Think about sweatshirts, aprons, canvas bags, pillow covers, even place mats or tablecloths.
Being able to print your own shirts has great gift possibilities. A teacher might like a shirt with a class picture. You could even print or paint a favorite saying on the back, too. Grandparents like pictures of their grandkids of course, but also pictures of themselves with the grandkids, or even old pictures of themselves as children. I love the idea of using old pictures, particularly for a special birthday. A reader would enjoy a book bag with favorite authors or book titles, or maybe a photo of themselves in their favorite reading spot. For a cook, you could do an apron with a picture of a big family dinner, or a picture of them cooking.
My favorite idea though is to use children’s original artwork. If you have access to a scanner, you scan in their artwork and then use the file just like you would a picture file. Think how fun it would be to wear a sweatshirt with your child’s drawing of the family on it. And think how proud kids would be to see parents and grandparents wearing their drawings!
More on T-shirts:
Tie Dye T-shirts
Kids-Design Your Own T-Shirts and Novelties!