Jack-o'-Lantern Jacket

October means Jack-o'-Lanterns and candy. At least to me and my family. I found this orange cardigan style jacket at a clothes swap months ago and thought it would make a great Jack-o'-Lantern. Let me show you how I put it together. It was an easy project that you could do too. 

I made a cheerful Jack-o'-Lantern Jacket. 

This jacket had a plain, smooth back. That is perfect for my project. You could also use an orange sweatshirt. You just need an open space on the sweatshirt that you can use for your Jack-o'-Lantern face.

 

I started by tracing out my face. I wanted triangles for the eyes and nose. I used a staple remover as my triangle. (It was the only triangle I could find.) I traced it lightly so I could paint over it later. 

 

I wanted a smile so I needed a curve to trace. I used this small lunch plate and traced one side of it to make a round half circle shape. I think tracing is easier but you could also draw out a face free hand if you feel comfortable with drawing. 
 

When I was done tracing the face on my jacket I wanted to paint the face in a dark color to make it really stand out. I used dark acrylic black puffy paint because it has a narrow tip that made it easy to draw over what I had already traced out. The tip made a clean sharp edge and I liked how that looked.

 

I used the squeeze bottle to trace the out lines of the face. I squeezed gently and tried to slowly draw the line of paint on top of the outlines I had traced earlier. It isn't brain surgery so don't get over-stressed about it.  

 

When I had made a nice clean outline of paint, I filled in the center by spreading the paint out with a paintbrush. This paint is easy to use. It is thick and does not soak through the fabric too much.

*Note- If you decide to paint a thinner material, like a t-shirt, put newspaper or something like that inside the shirt so the paint does not soak through and make marks on the other side of the shirt. 

 

I added some zigzag shapes to the mouth. Then I added eyebrows too. I was just having fun, you can personalize your face however you want. 
 

I left the jacket out over night to dry thoroughly. I did not move it for fear that I would smear the face. Once it is dry, it will never wash out. So be careful when you are painting the paint will stain anything it gets on. 

 

My new jacket is fun and great for the month of October and for Halloween, and simple enough to wear to work. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Casual Easter

Hello Readers. Easter is coming and I realized that it might not be a normal Easter holiday for everyone. Plans will depend on where you live and what the travel and meeting restrictions are in your part of the world. You might be staying home and if so, you might not dress up. You might wear a t-shirt and jeans. 

  

I thought making Easter t-shirts would be a fun activity for my youngest. You can do this at home with any t-shirt and some acrylic or fabric paint. This would be a fun activity to do with your kids. The first thing I do is put newspapers inside the t-shirt so the paint does not soak through the shirt to the back. I put newspapers all around the craft area too, paint is messy.

I cut a piece of foam into an oval shape. I want to paint eggs on my shirt. You know, Easter eggs. I painted to foam and used it as a stamp. I wanted all my eggs to be the same size and shape. The foam piece helped get a uniform look. It isn't necessary. You could just paint an oval shape free hand.

I used a brush to fill in my eggs. I needed to cover the writing on my shirt. I let the off-white paint dry over night. I wanted to used bright colors and the off-white paint will allow the bright paints to really pop. You might not need to do this for your shirt.

The next day I was able to start painting my eggs. I used a variety of colors. These were all acrylic paints I had on hand. 

 

My 5 year old loved this project. He painted for a long time. He wanted to make an egg face. I just wanted to keep him busy so an egg face was fine with me. 

I let the shirts dry over night again. Acrylic paint will not wash out once it is dry. It might fade slightly in the first wash. The images on the shirts will last a long time. Remember that, what ever gets painted will not wash out. Paint in a location that won't get ruined by dripped paint.

 

I hope you have a happy blessed Easter, if you are celebrating. It doesn't have to be a typical holiday to be great. No matter what you are doing today,  I do recommend chocolate in any form. It will add some yum to your day.

 Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

  Child review- My 5 year old says, "This shirt is great". 

It survived climbing trees, leaf piles and various outdoor activities. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-I liked this shirt project and my son wore his as much as he could. I don't know why but it was his very favorite.