Potato Stamp Flower Tees

Springtime is here!  Sunny days, April showers, gusty winds...a combination for a turbulent season for allergy sufferers.  And about a week ago, they really flared up.  Immediately upon waking, sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat.  Not fun.

You never know if what is affecting you will adversely affect the kids, too...until it does.  Yesterday, two out of the three kids had itchy eyes to the point of swollen eyelids and the inability to keep their little paws off their eyes.  It's time to restock the antihistamines and allergy eyedrops!

And yet...I love flowers.  As our seasons are a bit subtle in San Francisco, blooming flowers are one lovely indication that spring is upon us.  If I could afford it, or better yet, if I had a green thumb (which unfortunately I do not), my house would be filled with freshly cut flowers in every room.  Oh yeah, and if everyone weren't so darn allergic to pollen!

Luckily, we don't need to bring flowers into our homes to get our flower fix.  Last year, we made tissue paper flowers.  This year, I'd always wanted to try potato stamps, and the other day, Addison and I had a chance to add some flower tees to her spring wardrobe.  It was so much fun and a great chance to get creative!

If you're not ready to experiment on a tee shirt, just grab some paper and start stamping! 

Supplies:

Tee shirt, pre-washed
Russet potatoes
Cookie cutter, sharp one works best
Fabric paint (can be found at any craft store)
Paint brush (optional)

1.  Cut the russet potato in half so you have a cross section, trying to create as flat and smooth a face as possible.  (Depending on the size and shape of your cookie cutters, you want to pick potatoes that are big enough and perhaps round enough to punch your shape onto.)

2. Place the cookie cutter on the flat side of the potato and press down firmly.  Once the cookie cutter is stuck into the potato, you can place the cookie cutter on the table sharp side up and press the potato down onto it.  Edges around the cookie cutter should fall off or start to peel away--just peel the rest of it off.

3.  Once the edges are clean, pull the cookie cutter off, and voila--you have a potato stamp!

4.  We poured paint onto plates and dipped our stamps, doing a few test runs on paper before stamping the shirts.  It will help you locate any slope or uneven surface on your stamp that you may want to account for when you're trying to get the best print.  Just rinse off with water and pat dry if you plan on using different colors with the same stamp.

5.  We stamped a bunch of flowers and used the paintbrush for stems.

6.  Use fabric glue and glitter, buttons, ribbon, or tulle to embellish your tees.  So pretty!