gifts for guys guest- craftiness is not optional

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YAY! Gifts for Guys is here, y’all! A few weeks of testosterone charged, manly handmade goodness- a whole pile of gifts perfect for your dad or brother or boyfriend or husband (there will even be a couple of tutorials for the Little Guys on your list). And giveaways, did we mention the absolutely fabulous giveaways?

To kick off the goodness, Jess from Craftiness is Not Optional is joining us today. Do y’all love her blog as much as we do? Her creations for her daughters Sadie and Charlotte are simply fantastic. The Ariel-Ursula-King Triton-Sebastian Halloween costumes she put together- sheer genius. Along with her beautiful sewing, she has great home decor and holiday tutorials. And today, she’s here sharing a fantastic tutorial that could be tailored to every guy on your list! Here she is:

Hey there! I’m Jess, from Craftiness is not Optional, and I love to sew! Lots and lots of cute girly things for my two daughters. 
I just don’t make much for the guys. 
It’s kind of tricky to find something they’ll like that’s not too girly, or too homemade, or whatever else isn’t allowed by the male species. So, I was soo excited to hear that Kirstin and Jordan were putting together this Gifts for Guys series! I can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with. 
I stuck with something pretty basic-freezer paper stenciling a t-shirt. Not earth-shattering by any means-but super easy to customize to your recipient. 
Like, maybe he lives in Northern California?
and has a lot of state pride?
and will wear whatever I make him? or else?
Hence, this Nor Cal shirt was born.
Here’s what you’ll need:
freezer paper 
 (next to the foil, baggies, etc in the grocery store…one roll will last, I’m pretty sure, your whole life)
cutting tool
t-shirt
sponge brush
fabric paint
pencil
 First, decide what you’d like to stencil. For me, it was the Nor Cal logo-but I couldn’t find one large enough online-so I copied it as best I could freehand-ish. Trace with a pencil on the papery side of your freezer paper. (the other side is shiny)
Now using your cutting tool, cut out all the spots you want to be covered with paint. Make sure to keep the middles of letters!
Position on your tee…
 …and iron onto your tee-with no steam. Add your middles of letters in too! Make sure all the edges are well ironed and that you have a good seal. Inevitably you will have some leaking but hopefully less than I did this time!
Also, make sure to put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt-or you can iron another piece of freezer paper to the inside of the shirt so the fabric paint doesn’t leak through.
Next: painting! The trick I use is to dab the paint in from the edge of the freezer paper, so you’re not smushing the paint under the paper. Does that make sense? I did a good 4-5 coats of this white-on-navy so it would be nice and bright white.

I also added the star in the middle with some yellow felt instead of painting it-it adds some dimension and I like it cause it’s cute cool.
then tada! You have a cool (not cute) custom tee!
Then hang it up and take a picture-cause there’s NO way my hubby was going to model this for me. ๐Ÿ˜‰
Thanks for having me, Kirstin and Jordan!

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10 Comments

  1. You have NO idea how badly I need these ideas! As in I am literally the only female in my immediate family (aside from the dog who gets mistaken for a male due to her mammoth size.. ie malamute/newfoundland mix, 85 lbs!)

    Can't wait to see what else you all come up with. (especially for teenage boys who love to wear american eagle stuff, wear axe, and just look general "cool")

  2. Great idea! Sometimes I wonder if my husband feels left out that I rarely "craft" anything for him. I love this project!

  3. Love this idea! I found out this last couple of weeks that I can cut out all the letters on the freezer paper using my Cricut! What a time saver & it looks professional too!

  4. I am so excited about this series. When it comes to any gifts I think guys are the hardest! I love this shirt idea ๐Ÿ™‚ Jess is fabulous. So fun and so many creative ideas you could do with it. Fun. I am thinking this is a fun way to add my brother's name onto the back of t-shirts next year when we all cheer him on in his last year of college baseball. I can't wait to see what is up next.

  5. @Peggy
    I love it that this series will be helpful to you… though, not sure about the crafting for teenage guys- I'll see what I can round up. ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. @Peggy
    I love it that this series will be helpful to you… though, not sure about the crafting for teenage guys- I'll see what I can round up. ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Who would have thought there was such a cool craft for the men in the fam? These are great, I'll have to try one for the hubby and see what he thinks.

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