Chihuahua Mom T-Shirts

My friend and I need a little publicity when we're out selling our all-natural dog cookies. The first time was daunting not only because we're not natural salespeople, but because we had to keep yelling "Dog Cookies for Sale!" at everyone, since we didn't have any signage or markings around us. So I made up some t-shirts for us to wear, from the logo that we print onto our cookie bag labels. The back of the shirt has a huge, 8 x 10 graphic:

I've never done any custom t-shirts or really any fancy printing with my home printer--I don't even print my own photos at home. So I was excited to try out a new, simple craft.

I got these printable transfer sheets from Target for under ten bucks for the package. They came with detailed directions, but I was still nervous when I hit the "print" button! I found a sale on basic tees for only three dollars at Old Navy, and prewashed them in hot water to make sure they'd shrunk all they were going to. The transfers are made to use on white fabric, but my friend and I like color. So when I got the shirts I tried to stick to some sort of light shade, and ended up with one green and one yellow shirt.

I used the computer program Word to print out the transfers, and the hardest part was figuring out how to invert the image! It took me about an hour to print the four transfers I needed.

Space is tight in my tiny house so I only have a small, tabletop ironing board. I've used it for so many craft projects the cover is now sticky, so I have to lay a flour sack towel over it before putting anything on it. Yes, I'm ironing on my stovetop. My grandma would be so proud.

The hardest part of the project was waiting for the transfers to cool so I could peel off the backing and see how they'd turned out. I guess I didn't wait long enough, as one tore a bit on the edge. Luckily I had a wide margin around the image. I'm trying to keep in mind that this project is really just for fun, so I'm not going to be to picky with the results.

And the reason I'm selling cookies to make dog food money was present as I took these pictures....

The front of the shirt has a smaller, "pocket"-sized logo. Subtle but eye-catching, I think.

I'm thinking I can use this type of project with my 4-H kids sometime too. What about you? Have you ever designed a custom t-shirt for a sport club or some other function? Do you print gifts, cards, or photos using your home printer? Leave me a comment on the blog.