Bleach-Painted T-shirts: A Tutorial

 

Twice in the past few months, I've wanted to make some kind of custom fan apparel, but I didn't want to devote a ton of time, energy, or money to it. The first was for a Mother Mother concert, and the second was a present for all of the children dancing the (kind of shitty, because you have to wear a fat suit and giant mascot head that's apparently hot, smelly, and hard to see out of) role of Mouse in our local university's production of The Nutcracker. 

You can do this project a lot more nicely than I did it, with super clean lines and really even tones, but here's how you can ALSO do it quick and dirty-like, whether it's for a concert tomorrow or you've got to make six in a row and you're already bored.

To bleach paint T-shirts, you will need:

• black 100% cotton T-shirt. The best shirt is obviously a thrifted shirt, and for my Mother Mother shirt I did find the perfect black T-shirt at Goodwill. Speaking of... y'all have the Goodwill prices gotten absolutely RIDICULOUS in your area, or is my town the only one in which the local Goodwills have decided that not only do they no longer need to offer any sales or discounts on the crap they're literally given for free, but they've also just absolutely jacked up their prices to Jesus? I'd long more-or-less abandoned the little indie thrift shops around me for more than just the occasional browse-through, because their selection is the pits compared to Goodwill, but 2023 is the year that I rededicate myself to their cause. Anyway, I picked up the six Medium Team Mouse shirts that I needed via a Black Friday Doorbuster from one of the big-box craft stores. I feel like those shirts have a reputation for being cheap in quality as well as price, but 100% cotton shirts are nothing to sneeze about these days, when pretty much every shirt and its dog is infused with polyester!
• backing material. This will need to be thick enough to keep the bleach from bleeding through to the back of the T-shirt. I used a brown paper grocery bag.
• bleach. Get the cheapest, and don't get it on you.
• cotton swabs.
• glass dish.
• paper stencil.
• glue stick (optional). 

Step 1: Prepare the stencil.

Both of the stencils I wanted to make were word art, so I just did them in Google Docs. Because I am basic.

But at least I printed them as outlines to save ink!

Cut out the stencils and save the widows, since you'll need to place them back on the shirt before you paint.

My Team Mouse stencil took up two pages, so I taped them together with the spacing that I wanted.

Step 2: Paint!

Place your backing material inside the shirt, making absolutely sure it will cover where you'll be bleach painting. 

You can either just set your stencil on the shirt, if it's fairly short and simple--

--or you can tape it down with more masking tape.

I even took the glue stick to the back of those fiddly M and U sticky-outy bits to make sure they stayed put, and I also glued down the widows. I was able to reuse this same stencil for all six Team Mouse shirts, gluing the bits and the widows each time and pulling them up afterwards.

Then, put on a podcast and start painting within the lines!

I found it easiest to first draw the outline of each letter, then color in the center. It made them look wonky as I went, since the bleach activates right away--

--but I think it evens out pretty well by the end:

I'm disappointed in how much the edges bled, but none of the recipients of these shirts seemed to notice, and you also can't really tell when you're standing a normal distance from the human wearing it.

Below is the first shirt I did, though, and for that one I just painted away and it also looks fine:

Step 3: Rinse and Wash.

After I finished painting, I gave the bleach a few more minutes to even out the last couple of letters, then I rinsed each shirt very, very well under cool water and then tossed it into the wash. I washed each individually so nothing else would accidentally get bleach stained, but fortunately my washing machine has an eco-friendly quick wash, so I'm not the cause of the nation's water shortage.

I haven't tried it, but this TikTok recommends a hydrogen peroxide rinse to deactivate the bleach:

Might be worth a try!

Step 4: Show off your beautiful work.

Here's what happens when you ask your husband to photograph you in your beautiful shirt in front of the theater where Mother Mother is about to play:

Seriously, it's a cell phone camera. You have to really try if you want to get your thumb in the way of a cell phone camera.

And here's one particular member of Team Mouse, coincidentally the one who walked by as I was finishing up and asked if she could use the rest of the dish of bleach to customize her own shirt. Since "her own" shirt is inevitably the shirt that I messed up on (can't give a flawed shirt to someone else's child, gasp!), I happily let her also make her shirt the most elaborately cutest:

It's very likely that I'll do this project a few more times this year, because it's SUCH a quick, easy, and cheap way to customize a T-shirt. I would like to get smoother edges, though, so next time I'm going to play around with thickening the bleach first so it can't run away from me.

A Weekend Trip Was Planned in Community By Many Teenagers, and It Went Great!

The rule is that when you see your name in the wild, you take your picture together.

I have a folder where I keep TikToks that remind me of myself, and this is one of them:

To be fair, I can make a 17-page Google Doc for a weekend trip, but travel planning IS a lot! Budgeting, transportation, reservations, lodging, food, parking, wi-fi access, juggling the preferences of various travelers... yikes! 

Travel planning is a skill that my Girl Scout troop practices regularly, and it's been wonderful to watch how they've grown in this ability. Complicating the planning is the requirement that they also plan in community, taking into consideration each of their preferences, working through disappointment, developing their willingness to compromise. It's also really fun to see the kinds of things that they plan, because it's often stuff that wouldn't occur to me. Axe-throwing as an activity was an idea only very narrowly defeated when they planned a recent weekend trip, and only then because we can apparently throw axes more cheaply in our hometown--who knew?

So we didn't throw axes, but we DID do just about everything else that's fun to do on this recent holiday weekend trip.

FRIDAY

My Girl Scout troop has done our fair share of camping, but somehow we've never gone cabin camping... and it turns out that I LOVE it! Indoor toilets and showers! Hot water! Central heating! A refrigerator! A stove! Long tables to spread out across! There were something like 36 mattresses awaiting my six campers upon our arrival, so the kids immediately occupied themselves with creating an elaborate fort wonderland with elevated platforms to lounge on and private sleeping cubbies for each person. 

Seriously, it was epic. I NEVER sleep during troop camping trips, and yet this trip I slept all night, every night! Turns out all I needed was a mattress on the floor in a warehouse-looking group cabin.

The only downside to cabin camping is that I. Packed. EVERYTHING. I packed the crockpot. I packed the electric kettle. I packed cutting boards and knives and mixing bowls and measuring cups and parchment paper. I packed the beeswax crockpot and five pounds of beeswax and a jar of coconut oil and the teacups in case kids wanted to make more teacup candles (they did), and the rolled beeswax sheets and x-acto knives and cutting mat and heat gun in case they wanted to make taper candles (they didn't), and all the Model Magic and Sculpey clay in case they wanted to make clay pendants (they did), and watercolors (nope), and greeting card blanks and markers (yep), and the woodburner and wooden spoon blanks (also yep), and the hot glue gun and paracord and large-format drawing paper. I packed so much in the car that I could barely transport actual Girl Scouts--I MISS our giant minivan that could seemingly hold an infinite number of kids!

For Friday night dinner, I pre-made a double batch of my favorite pizza dough, then divided it into plastic baggies so each person could make their own personal pizza on site. The kids were supposed to each bring a favorite pizza topping to share but most of them forgot, so it was cheese and/or pepperoni pizzas for everyone!

In the evening, the kids worked on the Outdoor Art badge at their level (Theme: Christmas crafts!), while we listened to music and chatted. They prepped a breakfast casserole for the morning and put it in my crock pot, then hung out, gossiped, played games, and just generally had themselves a lovely evening together. 

SATURDAY

We were up and at 'em early on this morning, eating crock pot breakfast casserole and packing up for a day out and about. 

First up: a glassblowing workshop!

Each kid and both chaperones got to make a blown glass ornament from scratch:

I took OMG SO MANY photos of each kid making their ornament--because come on, how many times in your life are you going to go glassblowing? You need a full record of the occasion!--so then when it was my turn, my kid took my phone and made a full record of me, too!

I am very proud of my beautiful handblown glass ornament!

After glassblowing, we took the amazing opportunity of most of the troop being in the same place at the same time to get most of the shopping done for the four children we'd adopted for Christmas. The kids paired up and did the shopping for each of the older three children, while my co-chaperone and I had an absolute blast shopping for the baby. We consulted with the patrols pretty often to help them stay on track and make sure everything was about even for the recipients, but the kids did an awesome job with the shopping. Each child received a warm blanket, a complete outfit including socks, shoes, and undies, several toys, including some of the things they'd specifically requested, a book, and some snacks. The next week, another Girl Scout shopped for a car seat for the baby and I made each kid a personalized stocking. 

It was a whirlwind and not gonna lie, my nerves were a little frayed by the time we sat down in the ramen and crepes restaurant that the kids had chosen for lunch, but OMG was it a huge relief to have that HUGE task mostly taken care of! 

The Indianapolis Zoo has a yearly display of Christmas lights, so after our very late lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the zoo:

We left the zoo late, then went back to the cabin to have snacks/second dinner. The kids wrapped all of the presents they'd bought, discovered that we still needed to buy batteries for a toy and shoes for one child, did some more crafts, listened to more music, played more games, and had, I hope, as lovely a time as I did reading my book and hanging out peacefully.

SUNDAY

We got to have a leisurely morning on this day, and that meant waffles! Because yes, I did pack three waffle makers... The kids were also supposed to bring a favorite waffle topping to share, but again, most of them forgot. But fortunately, everyone likes blueberries and/or chocolate chips, and waffles are also delicious as-is, so it was fine.

The Girl Scout camp where we were staying has an old historic cemetery on site, with an accompanying fun patch program. You KNOW how I feel about old cemeteries, so indeed, I dragged all the kids on a hike to see this one, while the kids who were there the last time I dragged us to an old cemetery told everyone else horror stories of cemeteries under the lake and how long it takes bodies to decompose and the absolute lie that is "moving" a cemetery.

Gravestone rubbing is somewhat controversial, but this Girl Scout camp encourages it here, so my large-format drawing paper and my block crayons came in handy:

I think this was each kid's first time trying this activity, and they all seemed to enjoy it!

The other downside about cabin camping is that thanks to all the crap I brought, packing and loading the cars and cleaning the cabin took a LONG time. It wasn't hard, though, with so many hands to make the labor light. 

And once everything was squeaky clean and everyone had eaten their second and third lunches of sandwiches and chips and fruit (teenagers eat pretty much constantly, I don't know if you know), we were off to our reservation at a nearby cat cafe!

I REALLY want another cat, you guys. Can you each just please text me and tell me that I don't need another cat?

There had been a bit of controversy about our destination after the cat cafe. We knew we'd have about an hour-ish to kill before our dinner reservations, and I was a little reluctant to encourage the kids to plan another money-spending activity, but the kids couldn't seem to agree on what they wanted to do. Some kids thought it would be fun to wander around the art museum's outdoor campus, but other kids thought that would NOT be fun, ahem. Fortunately, that need for batteries and one more pair of shoes saved the day, because the bougiest Target I've ever seen was located just a couple of minutes from the dinner theater. So we went to Target, the kids finished their shopping, and then my co-chaperone and I let them wander around however they wanted for a while. Some kids finished up their personal Christmas shopping. Some kids hit up the in-store Starbucks. I, personally, browsed all the toys, because toys are amazing.

Our final event of the weekend was a genuine, honest-to-god dinner theater! This was another brand-new activity for some kids, and some kids even got to sit at their own table without chaperones, an activity some of them were well used to thanks to our troop trip to Mexico. Will and her personal bestie deigned to sit with me and my co-chaperone so we wouldn't be lonely, and for me it was a very precious chance to spend one last occasion with these two sweet kids together before Will leaves for college. 

Is there anything more exhausting than a weekend spent with teenagers? Probably not, but it was also an incredible amount of fun. And look what a wonderful job everyone did shopping for and wrapping all those gifts!

I was VERY excited to get all of that porch-dropped to their recipients so we could walk across the floor again!

As a whole, the weekend went great. The kids had a wonderful time together, a majority of kids loved each adventure, we had plenty of food, we didn't get snowed in, and there were absolutely no disasters. I barely had to get out my first aid kit! Next time, I seriously am going to print out that 17-page Shared Google planning doc, though, as even though most of the kids participated in planning the weekend, and some kids worked quite hard on the plans, nobody could seem to remember what came next on the itinerary. I was quickly so very over answering questions about what came next/what time some event was/when dinner was/what dinner was/where dinner was that I just kept the planning doc pulled up on my phone and anytime someone asked me a question whose answer was revealed within, I handed them the phone with the doc pulled up and let them research the answer themselves.

Next time I will print everything out and hand everyone their own folder with all pertinent information inside!

Obsessed with Adela Breton

Visiting Chichen Itza 130 years after Adela Breton's first trip to Mexico! To see it as she would have seen it, imagine this building half buried, half caved in, and covered in trees and vines.

My kid has a little community of fellow YouTube animators, and when they comment on each other's videos, the most popular comment (other than "uwu," of course), is to tell someone how "underrated" their channel is. It means that even though you as a YouTuber are but small and wee, the value of your work is vast, and if the general public had but access to it they'd tell you the same.

Adela Breton, then, is underrated. 

I first learned about Breton back when I was putting together a MesoAmerica unit study for my homeschooled high schoolers, and another Hispanic Heritage study for my Girl Scout troop, in preparation for our troop trip to Mexico. All of those kids in question wearily joke about my penchant for pointing out "strong female role models" to them wherever we go, as in "Oh, look! One of the dolphin trainers is a strong female role model!" and they don't even know that when I book a field trip or class for them I literally tell the organizer that we require a female firefighter or mechanic or glassblower, etc., to lead our tour. ANYWAY, obviously, then, when I was researching Mexico, I zeroed in on any positive female representation that I could find. That's how we ended up studying Frida Kahlo, and that's how I became obsessed with Adela Breton!

Adela Breton was my favorite type of Victorian female: the wealthy spinster intellectual. She was a stay-at-home daughter who cared for her parents until they died of old age, and then found herself released onto the world around the age of fifty, unmarried, child-free, and independently wealthy. 

As anyone would do if they found themselves in similar circumstances, Breton began traveling, taking years-long trips and returning to her home in England only sporadically to check in on her brother and his family and drop off her souvenirs.

It was on one of these trips that Breton first visited Mexico, and hired guides to take her to some of the many ancient sites that were then also underrated, undeveloped, and mostly unstudied. It wasn't a big deal back then to steal antiquities and make souvenirs of them, so she did a lot of that, sigh, but she also turned her prodigious art skills towards drawing and painting in watercolors the scenes she encountered, and in particular, the many murals still visible inside the buildings she visited. 

These buildings were, again, mostly unimproved, mostly untended, mostly unstudied, open to the weather and time and destruction of tourists. Breton worked off and on for the rest of her life on copying these paintings as exactly as it's possible to copy something with the human hand and eye, living for months in the wilderness with her guide and friend, Pablo. 

What Breton essentially did, in a time before cameras could do such work, was make snapshots of these sites and their features that show exactly what they looked like at that time. Not only can you see places like Chichen Itza overgrown and half-buried, but you can see perfect recreations of things that are long gone, most importantly these murals, most of which have since been destroyed, damaged, or just time-worn to the point that they're mere shadows of what they once were. 

So here's why Breton is mainly forgotten instead of lauded as a hero for saving these works for posterity: 1) she was female, so while her fellow archaeologists liked her work, they didn't appreciate it, didn't credit it, and didn't study it beyond her lifetime. 2) she was unaffiliated with a university or research organization, so approached all these sites and all professional encounters as an independent outsider. And 3) she lacked a staff or team that could have shared out the work that didn't require her professional touch, as well as keep her organized and purpose-driven. On her own, Breton did what interested her, but then got distracted with the requests of other researchers and archaeologists and wasted a ton of her precious time just copying out crap for them instead of further developing her own research. 

None of that really explains or forgives why she isn't posthumously appreciated more for her achievements. Breton left most of her artifacts and all of her art to Bristol Museum, which does not even have it on permanent display. The only record of most of a genre of historical Mexican art, and they don't even display it. Researchers barely use it or reference it. I'm planning a trip to England at some point in 2023, hopefully, and even if I go to this museum where all of her art lives, I can't even see it!

One of the very few books on the subject is Adela Breton: A Victorian Artist Amid Mexico's Ruins, which I read over winter break. It's good, but even the author admits that she couldn't access much of the Breton materials from the Bristol Museum, so imagine all the wonderful research and writing that there is to do!

The Best Homemade Christmas Present: Painted Building Blocks

The putting away of childish things is progressing, but it is a LOT harder than I thought it would be. The existence of the kids' playroom has allowed me to ignore all the once-beloved but long-ignored toys that they possess, since they're all stored tidily on shelves and not in the way.

But with one teenager headed off to college very shortly, I've promised the other teenager that we can remodel the playroom into a private bedroom just for her. It's long overdue, since the kids have shared one small bedroom for their entire lives without (much) complaint, but even I admit that I can no longer expect two nearly-grown adult children to continue sharing their decade-old IKEA bunk bed in their single tiny bedroom during college breaks.

I want to shrink these children back down to ages four and six just for a few hours, just so we can play blocks again while listening to Amelia Bedelia books on tape.

Anyway, we've already handled picture books and toy animals--

--we organized the LEGOs back during the pandemic lockdown, around the time that my partner got rid of almost all of the Barbies and their stuff (and no, I still haven't started speaking to him again...), and a couple of weeks ago, with a present idea for my toddler niece in mind, I decided to take care of the blocks.

The kids have a vast, well-loved, much played with building block collection. They wouldn't even be embarrassed to tell you that they played with blocks well into their teenaged years, because blocks are freaking AWESOME. Included in our collection were lots of scraps and seconds, though, so, first I sorted through all the blocks to cull the ones that the kids had had fun playing with, but weren't worth saving. Then, my partner helped me wash the blocks that we were keeping--and WOW, was that water gross!

We put most of the squeaky-clean blocks into storage bins--and I even separated the marble run blocks from the building blocks, a chore I'd been wanting to do for the entire time we've owned the marble run and yet somehow never got to--but first each person in the family picked out several blocks for a very special project:

My partner and the big kid each painted a few blocks, but the little kid and I got VERY invested in our individual block-painting visions and spent most of the weekend just like this:

The little kid designed her block set to resemble the work of one of her favorite artists, Mary Blair, specifically to mimic the Disneyland It's a Small World aesthetic. Here's how her blocks turned out!

I love how her blocks allow one to connect a line or continue a color in interesting ways.

I wanted to paint a set of triangles with a connecting rainbow on one side--

--and a complete color wheel on the other. Here's how that turned out!

I like how you can mix them up:

These are some more that we painted:

Obviously, we couldn't pack them up and mail them to our favorite toddler until we'd made sure that they work properly!

They work great!

Not gonna lie--I am VERY likely to dig some more building blocks out of storage so I can repeat this project, either for my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop or just for fun. It was QUITE satisfying, and I was left with the feeling that there's lots more to explore regarding block painting and pattern building.

P.S. Want to see what other mischief we (and the cats) manage to get up to? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page for updates!

How to Clean and Refurbish Old Wooden Building Blocks

This tutorial was originally posted on Crafting a Green World.

Wooden building blocks are an heirloom-quality toy... IF you treat them correctly. 

Which my children did not do! 

For at least a full decade, I collected--and created!--wooden building blocks for my two children. For that same amount of time, my kids played HARD with their blocks. These kids built with them inside and outside, in the sand and snow and mud. They painted them and printed with them, mixed them into potions and put them into slime. They forgot them outside, spilled juice on them, and absolutely loved them dearly. 

And it shows! 

One of my teenagers is weeks from moving off to college. I'm helping the other prep their long-disused playroom into a new bedroom that she won't have to share with her sister during college breaks. This means that I've had to finally start confronting all of these childhood toys that are no longer played with. It's time to decide what the kids want to keep for posterity, what they want to donate, and what we might want to upcycle. 

Regardless of what choices we do with my kids' HUGE stash of old wooden building blocks, they all still have to be cleaned and refurbished first. One can't simply toss blocks sticky with old slime into storage, or donate muddy blocks, or upcycle blocks stained with who-knows-what-please-don't-tell-me.

Perhaps you, too, have some old blocks that you'd like to make look new again. Perhaps you've obtained some blocks of uncertain provenance, and you want to make sure they're clean and safe to play with. Or perhaps you've bought some scraps or seconds that you want to ready for play. 

Whichever it is, here's how to deep clean wooden building blocks and simple wooden toys. Here's how to refurbish them, and even how to polish them up so they look beautiful and fancy and like the high-quality heirlooms that they are. 

To completely deep-clean and refurbish most wooden building blocks and toys, here's what you'll need:

• cleaning solution. I hate that I love Go Clean Co.'s homemade all-purpose cleaner so much. I used to be a straight up vinegar-and-water gal. That first wave of the pandemic got me panic-cleaning with a lot of less-natural cleaners, and I haven't yet entirely weaned myself off of them. In particular, that Tide+water+bleach combo is SUCH a dang good degreaser and stain remover--ugh! For a much more natural cleaning solution, sub your favorite natural laundry detergent for the Tide, especially if you think it does a good job fighting stains without a lot of extra spot treatment. That's why my frenemy Tide is such a solid all-purpose cleaner! Unless your building blocks have been through some shocking scenarios quite recently, they shouldn't need the addition of a disinfectant.
• large storage bin.
• large blanket.
• sandpaper. Moving through the different levels of sandpaper annoys me. Fortunately, 150-grit sandpaper is rough enough to remove most stains and marks with not too much elbow grease, while leaving the surface smooth enough for play.
• wood polish (optional). This isn't necessary to refurbish your building blocks, but it does make them look even more high-quality and feel that much more luxurious.

Here's how to clean up and refurbish the dingiest of building blocks!

Step 1: Sort the winners from the losers.

If your building blocks are well-loved, and/or consist of hand-me-downs, thrifted finds, and scraps or seconds, first sort through them and see what blocks actually deserve the spa treatment, and what blocks may just want to move on with their lives. 

My own losers' pile consists of blocks that have large knots or other flaws, oddly-shaped seconds that look more like scrap wood than toys, and the occasional piece that's clearly part of some other toy set, like wooden railroad tracks, that we didn't keep or never owned. 

My kids loved and played with all these blocks just the same as they did with their "nice" blocks, but there's no need to store them for future play. Instead, I'll keep some for woodcarving or other craft projects, and we'll roast s'mores over the rest. All the rest of the blocks that you want to keep, upcycle, or donate should be cleaned. That's the next step!

 

Step 2: Wash those filthy blocks.

As you can see, you can wash even blocks that have been painted. You can wash natural blocks like tree blocks, even ones with the bark still on. Vintage blocks are washable just like new blocks. You can even wash carved wooden toys, like peg dolls and stackers. 

The only blocks that I do not put into the communal wash solution are the ones that we've already highly embellished. These consist of blocks that my children painted as "art blocks," blocks that I've decoupaged with paper or fabric, and blocks that we've wood burned and stained. I hand wash each of those blocks individually with regular dish soap. 

The cleaning solution is dead simple. All you need are a small amount of stain-fighting, degreasing laundry detergent, and lots and lots of hot water. Also remember that a little bit of laundry detergent goes a LONG way, especially when you don't plan to rinse. Avoid oily additives like tea tree oil, because the goal is to get these blocks squeaky clean with no residues. 

Soak the building blocks in the cleaning solution for a couple of hours. Stir them around every now and then to make sure all the blocks have their turn getting nice and clean. Do NOT soak your blocks for several hours, because water and wood aren't actually friends. An old plastic tub works great to hold everything. Although don't do what I did and add so much water that you can't lift it back up to the sink to drain it. SIGH!

Dump the clean blocks out on an old blanket (or the back side of a vintage He-Man bedspread, ahem...) and let air dry.

  

Step 3: Sand stained or marked blocks.

To clean up blocks that have an old yellowed finish, or are stained or marked, sand them with 150-grit sandpaper. You can also sand the blocks to remove unwanted paint or varnish, although PLEASE use lead-safe practices for this! Use a palm sander to speed up the process. 

When I'm sanding blocks to refurbish for more block play, I also round all corners and edges on each block. I don't know why historical children got to play with so many pointy things. Today's toddlers prefer to keep all their eyeballs intact, thank you!

  

Step 4 (optional): Polish with a natural wood polish.

When I'm refurbishing blocks for more block play, I often paint them and seal them. But there's a lot to be said for providing children with simple, natural, unfinished wooden blocks as well as brightly painted ones! Kids don't always need every single sense stimulated to the max, and wood is already so beautiful on its own. If you leave your blocks unpainted and unvarnished, a nice way to shine them up and make them look marvelous is simply to polish them with a natural wood polish. Your clean and dry blocks can now be stored as heirlooms, embellished and upcycled into fun, new playthings, or donated to someone who will love them all over again.

P.S. Want to know more about my adventures in life, and my looming mid-life crisis? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page!