Jumping back in

So I decided it's been a long enough break....ahem...

I really didn't mean to disappear, it just happened, call it laziness or fear, perhaps both??? Moving on...

Today was a PLC day for my kids, meaning mom got them all DAY long! =/ I love my kiddos, but all day with three very different personalities can be a bit much for this mama, especially since I still struggle with finding "me" time. And today I had allowed my 7 year old to invite her friend over to hang out with us, she was overwhelmed by my kids I think (she's an only child). Poor kid!
Anyway, while she was over, all the girls wanted to do some crafting, which is when my son ran from the room to play Wii for the rest of the afternoon. LOL! So I sent them outside for a few minutes, OK a half hour, and scoured Pinterest for something fun and easy and stress-free. I actually didn't find anything that looked good with what little supplies I had lying around, so it was off to Google to look at valentine's ideas. That's when I ran across some cute looking shirts and I thought "hey, we can do that!" So we did!
For my oldest daughter, Angelina, I decided on an XOXO shirt with her name underneath. And being the cheap clever mom, I just created my own template in a word document, which you are free to use here.  Then I printed it out and laid the paper over a 9x20 inch piece of cardboard and centered it under her shirt, securing it with clothespins.
Now depending on the ages of your kids you can let them go to town decorating with fabric markers or paint or you can outline the design and let them color it in. Your choice.
For Angie, I just let her do it all and here is what she came up with.

You'll note that there is some puffy paint on there- the XOXO is covered in glow in the dark and her name is done in glitter.

For my son, Dominic, I modeled his after the valentine's cards we made... mustaches!  Again, I designed his in word, which can be found here. I laid his out the same way I did Angie's. Only this time I traced/outlined the letters/design and then let him color it all in. 

He even created a pattern on his own, for a boy who doesn't like crafts, this was great! Also, his puffy paint is glow in the dark to spell out "I <3 u."

For my baby, Lizzie, who is 3 and a half and constantly tells me she is NOT a baby, I chose a cute ABC, I <3 you design I saw somewhere on Google. This one was a breeze and you prolly don't need a template, but here it is just in case. ;) This one I also traced/outlined and LOVED how it turned out when she was done coloring!

Isn't that just adorable?!?  And in the dark it says "I <3 U," how sweet!

Now my kids have custom Valentine's Day shirts, and they were cute, simple, and cheap. Just an old white t-shirt and some fabric paint over print-from-home templates. Love it!

Hope you are sparked into some creativity.

Oh, and my daughter's friend's t-shirt was just as cute, but I completely forgot to take a picture before she headed home...whoopsie!! Maybe next time I'll remember to take pictures AS they are all working.